Dramatic irony involves the reader knowing more than the
characters do. In Chapter 4, Gene comes to the conclusion that Finny's escapades have
all been an attempt to sabotage his grades.
I found it. I found a single sustaining
thought. The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity.
You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. You did hate him for breaking
that school swimming record, but so what? He hated you for getting an A in every course
but one last term.
This
realization comes after the first three chapters in which Finny is presented as being
honest, charming, generous with his friends, genuinely kind and compassionate. Finny is
not jealous of Gene; he is not trying to sabotage Gene's grades. We the readers can see
through Gene's jealousy and misjudgment of Finny, and this creates a form of dramatic
irony. Gene projects his own feelings upon Finny, and we know that Gene's epiphany is
a false one. Even though the novel is told from Gene's perspective, we know what Gene
does not: his jealousy of Finny is destroying what could have been a wonderful
friendship.
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