person he truly is, in his room andup in the tree, Gene must now confront his problems, face reality,and deal with the future. He must learn that communication is veryimportant in a relationship and that he must express himself insteadof keeping his feelings inside, as he had always done with Finny. Hemust learn to listen to himself rather than to others. These were justa few of the many problems there were in his relationship with Finny.He must face reality and acknowledge the fact that he isn't as greatas Finny, that he is his own individual person and that Finny isn't asperfect as he thought. Gene must accept the guilt for Finny'sdifficulties after his injury and must help Finny as a punishment andact of repentance for his deed. Gene does this by "giving a part ofhimself to Finny" as we see with the case of sports throughout therest of the novel - how Gene "becomes" Finny when it comes to sports.Although the above are all of great importance, the greatest hurdleGene must overcome is learning to live with what he's done. Thispainful step is the one which will allow him to completely mature.The final stage of Gene's maturation is his self-acceptance andSelf-forgiveness. He has to accept that he isn't perfect and that he,like any other normal being (even Finny), has faults. Accepting thathis innocence has been lost helps Gene move on into another part ofhis life and realize that he can never return to the days of hisinnocent youth again. He can now become a man, enter the war and adultworld and leave his youth behind. Forgiving himself is the step whichallows Gene to lead a normal life and enter society. He must finallyforgive himself completely for his blind act and allow himself to"come in out of the rain". By accepting as well as forgiving theperson that he is, Gene enables himself to move on and join the adultworld.Gene's maturation is long, painful. It is a painful and difficultprocess that reveals a darker side of Gene that he do...
