What enduring effect did Finny have on Gene even after his death??

I think there was definitely a sense of love and loss between the two. They had a passive aggressive relationship laced with latent homoeroticism. Their relationship was so co dependant that something had to break: not just Finny's leg. Gene was able to better define his own identity because of this experience. The death of Finny, forced him to break away from an identity that was fused with Finny. Gene was forced to reconcile his own emotions without the lens of Finny. It would take a complete separation from Finny for Gene to understand himself.