Finny as a Leader in A Separate Peace

            In John Knowles' novel, "A Separate Peace," Finny acts as a leader by being persuasive, outgoing, and caring. As most leaders do, Finny cares for the other boys and especially for Gene. With Finny always portrayed as an outgoing person, he has the quality of a leader. The boys attempt many things they don't generally do because Finny is very persuasive which a characteristic of many leaders is. The other boys participate in things that Finny persuades them to take part in and acts as a leader. As Finny talks to Gene at the beach, he states "I hope you're having a pretty good time here. I know I kind of dragged you away at the point of a gun, but after all you can't come to shore with just anybody and you can't come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal"(48). Finny shows his persuasive leadership skill by persuading Gene to accommodate Finny to the beach, skipping school all together. On the other hand, Finny explains to himself that Gene proved himself innocent. After falling out of the tree, Finny takes responsibility for his actions similar to a good leader. Meanwhile, Finny convinces Gene into training for the Olympics. Leaders are persistent and persuasive and that's exactly what Finny strives toward to get Gene to prepare for the Olympics. Finny has a quality that great leaders possess, he also has the ability to persuade others to carry out his commands.
             Finny, being outgoing, holds a key trait that many great leaders have. The boys had been scheduled to play badminton, but Finny thinks otherwise, he creates Blitzball. This game, thought up by Finny's leadership abilities, has one objective, tackle the person holding the ball. Realizing that a current winter event at Devon does not seem to be scheduled, Finny expresses, "Who wants a Winter Carnival?" (130). Further, the Winter Carnival contains many activities for the boys such as skiing, snow sculptures, and drinking hard cider.