wanted to see some more excitement; that must have been it.

The study scene in their dorm room displayed all the traits you ask about. Gene realizes he wants to achieve scholastic recognition to compare with Finny's athletic honors; Gene is too insecure to conceive of a friendship with someone by whom he feels (at that moment) betrayed; and Gene is jealous that Finny's sports achievements come so easily, while Gene has to study and work for his good grades.

"Somebody's got to be the head of the class."...He had won and been proud to win the Galbraith Football Trophy and the Contact Sport Award...If I was head of the class on Graduation Day and made a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra Scholastic Achievement Citation, then we would both have come out on top we would be even, that was all..."You wouldn't...mind if I wound up head of the class, would you?"..."I'd kill myself out of jealous envy." I believed him...My brain exploded. He minded, despised the possibility that I might be head of the school.

Gene Forrester's envy of Phineas is, of course, born of insecurity, and his observations of Finny are redolent with this insecurity.  For instance, in Chapter 2 when Finny wears a pullover roadcloth shirt in pink to class, and not one of the instructors said anything about it during classes, Gene remarks in his unsureness of himself:

I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything....because of the extraordinary kind of person he was.  It was quite a compliment to me, as a matter of fact, to have such a person choose me for his best friend.

As Finny recalls the conversation he has had with Mr. Patch-Withers, Gene replies sarcastically, admitting to his insecurity: 

As I said, this ws my sarcastic summer.  It was only long after tht I recognized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak.

In Chapter 3 Gene further admits that

I was subject to the dictates of my mind, which gave me the maneuverability of a straitjacket.

Later, when Finny breaks the school swimming record, he tells Gene that he just did this to see if he could.  Gene narrates,

Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it.

Then, in their room, Finny tells Gene in his recognition of Gene's intelligence,

You know all about History and English and French and everything else.  What good will Trigonometry do you?

But this discussion, also, results with more insecurity upon Gene's part as he hears Finny talk of studying and becoming "head of the class."  His eyes snap in envy from the textbook to Finny: 

But what did go on in his mind?  'If I was the head of the class and won that prize, then we would be even...'

Now, Gene becomes worried that Finny will try to surpass him intellectually, as well.  This insecurity is reinforced by the incident in which he and Finny are in the library, studying for a French examination, but Finny passes nonsensical notes and "I didn't get any work done."  After Gene returns to his room, Finny enters, announcing that Leper has decided to jump this night, so Gene must attend.  Gene, in his insecurity, suspects ulterior motives on Finny's part:

Finny had put him [Leper] up to it, to finish me for good on the exam.

When Gene expresses this thought, Finny is surprised.  He tells Gene he is intelligent:

Listen, I could study forever and I'd never bread C.  But it's different for you, you're good. you rally are.  If I had a brain like that, I'd--I'd have my head cut open so people could look at it....

And, Gene becomes ashamed of his insecurity:

He had never been jealous of me for a second.  Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us.  I was not of the same quality as he.

There are two types of conflict: internal and external. Internal conflict refers to the inner struggles a character faces, such as battles with guilt, shame, or decision-making. External conflict is caused by outside forces, such as a character having to find contentment after a divorce or having to rebuild their home after a storm.

Gene faces many conflicts in A Separate Peace. His primary conflict is his battle with guilt, as he attempts to understand how involved he is with Finny's injury (and later his death). On the outside, Gene and Finny look like best friends. They spend their time together, compete with one another, and joke and laugh with one another. But one of their competitions gets complicated when they go outside to a familiar tree that school boys often jump into the water from. (The tree becomes a symbol of fear that recurs throughout the book.) The boys are excited and feeling free outside of the school building where they are being prepared to fight in World War II—a situation they feel, as young, able men, unable to avoid. Gene explains:

Any fear I had ever had of the tree was nothing beside this. It wasn't my neck, by my understanding which was menaced. He had never been jealous of me for a second. . . . Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. (59)

In this moment Gene believes that he is inferior to Phineas. He becomes jealous, believing that his intellectual abilities are not as valuable or important as Phineas's athletic ability and social skills. Phineas suggests that they do a double jump from the tree, leaping at the same time from a high branch over the water. He says, "Come out a little way . . . and then we'll jump side by side" (59). Gene bravely faces his fears, agreeing with the plan:

Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud. (60)

In this accident, Finny breaks his leg and immediately loses all of his athletic ability, his primary skill. Gene is left with great internal conflict about why the branch "jounced" (60). Did he do it intentionally? Did he want his friend to get hurt? Was it an accident? Did this glance from Finny, at the moment of the accident, suggest that he thought it was on purpose? Gene recounts this scene throughout the book, questioning his motives and seeking to make amends with his friend, whether the bounce of the branch was an playful, an accident, or an intentional desire to harm.

The depth of Finny's confusion and concern over this memory shows up soon after the accident. Gene starts a conversation with Finny about it: "Finny, I. . . . What happened there at the tree? That goddam tree, I'm going to cut down that tree. Who cares who can jump out of it. What happened, what happened? How did you fall, how could you fall off like that?" (65). He responds, "I just fell . . . something jiggled and I fell over" (65). Finny then inquires about the expression on Gene's face during the accident: "I just remember looking at your face for a second. Awfully funny expression you had. Very shocked, like you have right now." Here, Gene begins to feel guilty, as seen by his defensive words: "Well, of course, I am shocked. Who wouldn't be shocked for God sakes. It's terrible, everything's terrible" (65). This theme of guilt haunts Gene throughout the remainder of the story. Guilt is a major internal conflict that Gene faces.

One quote that shows Gene's conflict with himself occurs in the first chapter as he returns to Devon after an interval of 15 years. He writes of remembering his conflicted emotions of both fear and happiness when he was a student:

I felt fear’s echo, and along with that I felt the unhinged, uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and opposite face, joy which had broken out sometimes in those days like Northern Lights across black sky.

As Gene mentally heads back in time to recreate his memories of his last year at Devon, he expresses his conflicted feelings about Phineas. He has decided at this point that Finny is in competition with him, out to destroy his chances to be the top scholar at the school. This makes him hate Finny, but he also loves him, as the quote below shows:

It was surprising how well we got along in these weeks. Sometimes I found it hard to remember his treachery, sometimes I discovered myself thoughtlessly slipping back into affection for him again.

Gene's conflicted feeling about himself and Finny emerge again when Finny is in the hospital after Gene bounces the tree so that he falls. Gene puts on Finny's clothes and looks in the mirror:

I was Phineas, Phineas to the life. I even had his humorous expression in my face, his sharp, optimistic awareness. I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief, but it seemed, standing there in Finny’s triumphant shirt, that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again.

Gene is conflicted in his feelings about Phineas, both filled with admiration of him and envy that he can't be more like him, and also conflicted about his own character, which confuses him with its many contradictions.

The word "neurotic" isn't used in psychology circles so much any more because there are more specific words used to diagnose different mental illnesses these days. The word technically refers to an unsettling of the nerves, or pertaining to nervousness. Gene does seem to be nervous, but more specifically, he is a paranoid, insecure teenager with a newly discovered dark side that he must learn to tame. This dark side comes out as Gene's paranoia and insecurity are pushed to their limits as he inadvertantly breaks his pre-supposed rival's leg. Because the book is written from Gene's perspective, there are many quotes that discuss what he is thinking and how his thoughts expose his paranoia and insecurities. 

In chapter 2, Gene admits to being envious of Phineas. Gene realizes that Phineas can charm his way out of anything, beat anyone at any game, and do anything he wanted in life. Gene says, "There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little"(25). But this slowly starts to get out of control as Finny seems to do one incredible thing after another. Gene's mental status spirals.

For example, in chapter 3, Finny breaks the school swimming record and Gene hits a breaking point with his jealousy. Finny didn't want to tell anyone about the accomplishment so it festers in Gene. Gene says the following:

". . .so I didn't tell anybody. Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it"(44).

This darkness and hiding things builds up in Gene to the point where he can't contain his jealousy and that isn't good for mental health.

By chapter 4 Finny and Gene get into an argument about grades, recreational time, and how each one perceives the other. Gene realizes he has been jealous of Finny, but what really gets his goat is when he says:

"He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not the same quality as he"(59).

By this point, Gene is completely riled up mentally and he's energized to go prove himself by jumping off the tree into the Devon river again. Again, not a good frame of mind at this point and it leads to him jouncing the branch which leads to Finny's broken leg.

There are plenty of quotes in John Knowles novel A Separate Peace that speak to Gene’s character.  As the story’s narrator, and the cause of Phineas’ (“Finny”) death, Gene’s narration is filled with expressions of remorse and envy regarding his role in Finny’s injuries and death and in the duplicitous nature of their relationship.  Finny, despite his flaws, was a true friend to Gene; Gene, however, was deeply and adversely affected by feelings of jealousy he maintained towards Finny due to the latter’s athletic prowess and adventurous nature.  While Gene protests early in the novel that Finny did not goad him into an act of daring, defiantly declaring that “I never backed away from anything in my life,” there is no question that Finny’s willingness to take risks exceeds anything Gene could have imagined.  Describing Finny’s decision to wear a bright pink shirt around the school campus, defying others to question his sexual orientation, Gene states the following:

“I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little”

As the story progresses, and with Gene’s and Finny’s relationship growing both closer and more competitive, the darker side of Gene’s nature begins to appear.  At the end of Chapter Three, when Finny and Gene settle down to sleep on the beach after a day of recreation along the boardwalk, Finny expresses his emotions in a manner normally unheard of in the masculine formality of their school, telling Gene that he was his “best pal.”  Gene’s recollection of that day, and that moment, are described as follows:

“I should have told him then that he was my best friend also…But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth”

The truth, of course, is that Gene feels envious of and resentful towards Finny because of the latter’s more carefree, daring nature, and because of his physical attractiveness.  Gene, of course, is not evil; he’s a boy, maturing into the man he will become, and possessed of conflicting emotions regarding the world around him.  Knowles theme, embodied in the title he chose for his novel, A Separate Peace, is about the moral as well as the physical isolation his characters felt, attending an elite boarding school while the most destructive war the world had ever known raged thousands of miles away.  Late in the story, after Gene has attempted to visit Finny, who lies in the hospital, his leg broken again because of Gene’s actions, the narrator reflects on his isolation:

“I felt that I was not, never had been and never would be a living part of this overpoweringly solid and deeply meaningful world around me.”

There are many viable references in A Separate Peace to Gene’s nature.  The above quotes, however, are three that stand out for what they reveal about Gene’s character.