Question: who jumped from the tree in a separate peace
Answer: Gene Forrester , the protagonist , returns to his old prep school , Devon ( a thinly veiled portrayal of Knowles ' alma mater , Phillips Exeter Academy ) , fifteen years after he graduated to visit two places he regards as `` fearful sites '' : a flight of marble stairs and a tree by the river that he caused his friend , Phineas , to fall out of .