Major Characters
Gene Forrester
Gene Forrester is the main character/protagonist of the novel. His best friend is Finny, but at some points he seems to resent him. Gene struggles with his own identity throughout the book. He is extremely smart and gets straight A's, but he is still jealous of his best friend's success in athletics. After Gene causes Finny to fall out of the tree, he realizes that he had a deep hatred toward Finny and intentionally brought him down to his level. After Finny becomes dependent on Gene, Gene transforms more into Finny every day. At the end of the book, Finny dies, and the one person in his life that he loved is gone. Gene joins the army and tries to make his life a model of Finny's.
Phineas "Finny"
Finny is Gene's best friend and the only character without a last name (this may be symbolic of how he dies in the end). Finny is great at every sport he tries, but he doesn't excel in school like Gene. Phineas is a huge rule breaker but manages to get out of trouble every time. Gene describes Finny as being handsome and almost like a Greek god. Finny breaks his leg in the book after Gene makes him fall out of a tree. His dreams of athletics and war are shattered, causing him to become very dependent on Finny. Strangely, Finny forgives Gene for making him fall out of the tree. At the end of the book, Phineas dies when a piece of his bone marrow makes his heart stop in an operation.
Elwin "Leper" Lepellier
Leper is very introverted and a lover of nature. Gene and Finny are his friends, but he never jumps out of the tree or plays games and sports like the other boys. Because Leper is so quiet and lacking courage, he shocks his friends when he is the first to join the army. He later runs away and becomes very unstable after seeing the bloodshed. Leper accuses Gene of being a murderer.
Brinker Hadley
Brinker Hadley is very headstrong and also a leader like Finny, especially during the winter session. Gene says that Brinker has a "steady wit" and "ceaseless plans". Brinker is very interested in law and studies "politics, arrangements, and offices". While Brinker is tall and muscular, he is not athletic. Brinker is very suspicious, and the first to question Gene about what happened in the tree.