Even though Mathew Harrison Brady from Inherit The Wind, and Finny from A Separate Peace, are in different books, and many very years apart, they are in the very exact stage in life. Finny and Brady both act the same way, and there is obviously a incredibly strong bond and link between the way that they act. Finny is a teenager, and Brady is a senior around the age of 60. The same stage in life really means that they both act like children. They can be characterized by this because they believe only what they want to.
Finny and Brady act so much alike that they can be synonyms in a thesaurus. It is very well known that when little kids don't want to hear something, they put their hands over their ears and sing a song. This exactly what Brady and Finny both act like. They both show utter indifference to anything that they don't believe in. Finny doesn't want to believe that there is any war at all. He does this because he knows that it would be impossible for him to be accepted, so Finny tries to prevent Gene from enlisting in the war. "I kept saying that there wasn't any war all winter? I was going to keep on saying that until 2 seconds after I got a letter from Ottwa or Chungking or some place saying yes can enlist with us." Finny acted exactly like Brady by thinking if can't have something, then don't let anyone else have it. Brady on the same hand, doesn't want for anyone not to believe the bible. This is basically saying that the bible is right, and that evolution and all other theories are wrong. Brady hasn't even read Charles Darwin's theory on evolution, and yet he is the prosecuting attorney. Drummond has the advantage in the case because he actually read the bible and Darwin. Both Finny and Brady try to block out all of the evil and bad things that they don't want to believe. This is called the Finny filter, and the Brady Buffer. Another example of Finny filter is when Finny doesn't believe that there is any rule in the entire world that actually pertains to him. Finny goes on a bike ride, which is strictly against the school rules in itself, but also because he was ditching class. Finny also does something that ultimately leads to his fall of innocence. Finny jumps from the tree. This is only allowed for the 12th graders for their army training. An example of the Brady Buffer occurs when the Reverend Brown is damning Cates and even his daughter. Reverend Brown is a true zealot for his religion. He feels very strong about being a strict disciplinarian. "Reverend Brown, I know it is the great zeal in your faith which makes you utter this prayer! But it is possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save, so that nothing is left but emptiness. The bible also tells us that god forgives his children," (page 66). Brady only says this because he can't take the idea of damnation, and hell. This is a great example of the Brady Buffer. Both Finny and Brady are forced to face the truth. When Brinker forces Finny and Gene into a mock trial. Finny still resists from accepted the truth, he denies that Gene ever pushed him in the first place, even though the knows deep in his heart what really happened. "You collect every F***ing fact there is in the world," (page 177). Brady does basically the exact same thing. He in the end finds out that Drummond is more of an expert on the bible than he is. The reason is because to truly be a real expert on something, you have to go deep, and the deepest you can go is by questioning everything. Brady becomes so mad about how Drummond makes him look bad. "Mom, they are laughing at me," (page 103). Finny and Brady are hit just way too hard at the mock trail, which is the cause of their death, a broken heart. They may have suffered minor injuries before, but they fall from innocence in the mock trails, which is in both books. In the very end of both books, they discover that life has to be a balance of both good and evil. You can't have too much of one, and not enough of another. The only problem is that they discover this a little too late. They may have died actually from physical injuries, but emotionally, they died with a lack of balance, and with broken hearts.