The whole situation stemmed from Gene's jealousy. All he did was reverse the situation, and put himself in Phineas's shoes (and his clothes). Now it was Gene who would be changed forever from Phineas's hurt and jealousy towards him. Gene almost had to make up for the fact he had hurt Finny by becoming the athlete Finny could never be, because of his act of envy. Then, in another act of desperation, Phineas decided that …showed first 75 words of 435 total…

…showed last 75 words of 435 total…anger from a loved one had done so much damage that something in Phineas died. Something irreplaceable, and of the utmost importance to Finny's being. Finny could never recover. No matter how hard he tried to build up another part of him from Gene. No matter how long he imagined a different world. But he could not accept the realities. To Phineas it was better to live his lies than to live a terrible truth.