F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Truth"

The Truth that Gene realizes at the end of the chapter is that he envies Finny to a point where he is jealous of him and hesitates to call him his "best friend". When someone envies someone else it means that one has a feeling of discontent with an other's advantages, skills, or possessions. Earlier in the novel, on page 17, Gene said, "I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him a little, which was perfectly normal." When Gene used the word "envy" shows that Gene wants to be as good as Finny and he wants the same amount of respect as him. The problem with envying people is that the word "envy" is used as a good thing to do and is mistaken for "looking up to". When someone usually "envies"another person it means that they are not alike, they have different strengths and weaknesses. And when people have different characteristics they are usually not "best friends". Another problem with using the word "envy" is that it brings competition and fighting to become the best. On page 33, Gene said, "Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me." In this quotation when Gene said "he lost it for me" is another example of how envying someone brings competition. When Gene said "he lost it for me" says that Gene lost his appearance in the world to Finny and that Finny would get more respect for it than Gene would. And this kind of competition of trying to be the best and try to appear better than someone else leads to fighting and shows that someone is not really your friend.