A Separate Peace Character Analysis

With each scenario, it is shown that most of the time Gene’s enemies are only in his head- not many are in a battle to reign supreme as he is. The war put together with these power struggles allows for such a well done piece, for the reader learns that even in times where others are in battle one does not have to be anchored against someone. Phineas and Gene’s relationship is also instrumental in delivering this message because the reader can witness Phineas, with his free and peaceful ways and realize that Gene does not have to be on the defense and seek power all of the time. Phineas is a unique contrast to Gene that helps Knowles prove his point. Just as in the book, life shows us that this urge to beat an “enemy” is unnecessary and can often have consequences like the ones Gene experienced. It is crucial to recognize the reigning powers in life and not let them take over and cause one to find evil in everyone- Knowles displays this perfectly with Gene and his

Betrayal, one of the most horrible things you could do to anyone your family, a friend anyone. To me it’s one of my all time most hated things a person could do and it’s almost unforgivable. In this book A Separate Peace by John Knowles two boys Phineas and Gene who are best friends at a boarding school in New Hampshire experience some of the worst kinds of Betrayal you could think of. Gene commits a very bad betrayal when he jousts the tree limb they are both standing on ending up with Finny falling and badly breaking his leg. This was no accident because Gene can’t stand the guilt.

In today’s age teenage school boys are the farthest from innocent. In “A Separate Peace” Finny is portrayed as a slick, cunning, smart boy who tends to get whatever he wants. Teachers and students alike seem to fall at his feet and indulge in his little games. He’s proven several times in the story that he knows how to get people to do as he wants. Finny smiles and jokes his way through any sort of serious situation and he always seems to come out on top as he plays everyone around him like fine tuned instrument. In this novel, Finny is a magnetic, charismatic character whom people cannot help liking, but he is also manipulative, immature, and self centered. He is not nearly as innocent as he seems. Being all those thing doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person or even an evil person. Finny could very well think he is doing the right thing by ‘helping’ Gene out by pushing him to

He’s always trying to find a way to impress them to make him feel better about himself. For example, he tries to romanticize his background by hanging up pictures of plantations in his room. “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (60). In this quote, Gene let his jealousy control him and he jounced the limb Finny was on. It seems like it was more of an impulse and that he never actually meant to hurt Phineas. By the end of the book, Gene has become very loyal to Phineas because he learned that he shouldn’t take things for granted. “I would have talked about that, but they would not, and I would not talk about Phineas in any other way” (197). He feels differently about Phineas after he died and he has dealt with his jealousy. Gene used to view anything as a competition with his friends, but he realizes that it was never a

Sometimes people read a text and do not go any further into the message inside. Howeverin the story A Separate Peace by John Knowles, The character of Finny represents innocence-aninnocence that is destroyed when it is forced to confront the hatred and evil in the real world.Finny is preserved by most as a picture of innocence because he acts like he has nothingto hide from anyone. The reader can infer this because, most of the teachers at Devon seem tothink of him this all good boy way. The reason the reader thinks this is because, they let the stuffthat Finny does, that is against the rules, slide and he does not get in any form of trouble.However when anyone else at Devon done these things they do not let them off as easy. Thisbeing because of the fact that Finny had a certain attitude towards life that made people not seethe bad in him.However later in the novel Finny falls from the tree and

Many people think that it is easy to let go of the past, to move on, to let it all go, apologize to those you hurt, and forgive the people who have hurt you. But in reality, others would agree that it is definitely easier said than actually done. The book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is about a boy, Gene Forrester, who is attending an all boy boarding school in New England during the beginning of World War 2. He battles to find his inner self while also battling with the hardships of having a best friend, Finny, who everyone adores and who is good at everything he does. This book is chalked full of events, dramatic as well as calm, between these two boys that happen during a particular summer. They not only find their inner selves and make a stronger bond, but they stretch the limits of their relationship and they lose the innocence of their world. Coming of age is a necessary, but often challenging stage of life which involves seeing oneself and the world as they truly are. Coming of age is the main theme of this book because the boys need to be able to grow and mature into the young adults that they need to become.

John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, reveals the many dangers and hardships of adolescence. The main characters, Gene, and Finny, spend their summer together at a boarding school called Devon. The two boys, do everything together, until Gene, the main character, develops a resentful hatred toward his friend Finny. Gene becomes extremely jealous and envious of Finny, which fuels this resentment, and eventually turns deadly. Knowles presents a look at the darker side of adolescence, showing jealousy’s disastrous effects. Gene’s envious thoughts and jealous nature, create an internal enemy, that he must fight. A liberal humanistic critique reveals that Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, has a self contained meaning, expresses the

John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace is about a few boys at a boarding school in New Hampshire. The story is centered around the friendship of two boys, Gene and Finny, at a boarding school in New Hampshire. Although in the beginning of their friendship Gene did not trust Finny, by the time he dies Gene feels as if a part of him has died, showing that he still felt closely bonded to him after all they had been through.

John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace” takes place at a boarding school during World War II. Best friends Gene and Finny have been inseparable during their time at the Devon School. This is until reality hits Gene, and he slowly starts to realize that he is inferior to his best friend. Through the unbalanced friendship between two teenagers in “A Separate Peace,” Knowles illustrates that a loss of identity may be present in a relationship if there is an unequal amount of power.

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that intimidation is suicide…” (Emerson 370). A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, takes place at Devon, a preparatory school in New Hampshire, during the 1940’s. Gene Forrester is a student at Devon and drives much of the story’s plot through his intimidation of his best friend Finny. A Separate Peace not only shows how Gene’s envy and intimidation of Finny affected him and his friendship with Finny, but it also shows Gene’s failure in achieving true peace.

Every good story has one character that contrasts from the mood of the entire story. Within the story A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Phineas was an optimistic, fearless, and humble student at the Devon School. Phineas, with Finny being his more commonly used nickname, tried to be a positive influence to those around him all throughout the book. He constantly supported himself and Gene, his friend, even if Gene did not return the favor. In addition, he was involved in many adventures and always thought of new ideas to enlighten the bleak mood of the school. To summarize, Finny genuinely was an amazing character, even his closest friend was secretly jealous of him.

A Separate Peace, which was written by John Knowles, has many themes. They are interconnected throughout the book. The most clearly portrayed theme is fear. It seems to be connected with the themes of friendship, jealousy, and war. As World War II was occurring, fear had taken over Gene's life through these various themes. When he visited Devon fifteen years after leaving the school, Gene claimed, "I had lived in fear while attending the school and I can now feel fear's echo" (Knowles 10). He felt like he had gained a separate peace after escaping from this fear.

A Separate Peace A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles is based on two boys, Gene and Phineas who are best friends in the setting of New England during the tragic years of the start of World War II. During their sudden yet stumbling adolescence, the two young men end up finding their way into adulthood quicker than they think, and it leaves a good and bad mark on the two boys friendship, which makes a life learning toll for both of them. In this novel the author: Knowles writes and shows many ways of symbolism, by just explaining this story of gene the quiet, lonely one. And the companion; Phineas who is a handsome daredevil, along being an outstanding athlete.

There are friends, there are best friends, and then there are the friends you feel so close to that it is as if you are a part of them. In the book ,A Separate Peace, the main character, Gene, reminiscences about his teenager days back at school with his best friend, Finny. Although they are two different halves, they bring out the best in eachother. Throughout the book Gene discovers that he is, in fact, a part of his best friend, and had a “feeling deeper than” just best friends. Gene sees all of Finny’s great characteristics. For instance, his way with words, his athleticism, his humbleness, and the way he takes risks. The two boys have plenty of ups and downs in the book, and Gene begins to see just a glimpse of what “boys in [his] generation are going to see a lot of.”

In chapter 1 of A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, Finny recognizes Gene as his best friend. He shows loyalty, compassion, truthfulness, and almost any other character trait a great best friend should have. Everything drastically changes for Finny throughout A Separate Peace, that being said, this is how Finny felt about Gene at the beginning of chapter 1, "It's you, pal...just you and me" (Knowles 10). Finny feels like Gene is an honest person he can trust and befriend, and he obviously shows this in chapter 1. He is a caring, fun, spontaneous person, and he seems perfect in almost every way, Gene on the other hand is not someone who is as well-known or liked by everyone. Finny shows his spontaneity greatly in chapters 1-4, a few examples of this would be when Finny proposed to Gene "Let's go to the beach", which they both new was highly forbidden, or when Finny wanted to create The Super Suicide Society of Summer Session, and also when he just made up a game called "Blitz ball", off the top of his head. Finny has a carefree, self-absorbed attitude and he is only aware of himself at most times. This attitude changes throughout the novel. Finny had hopes and dreams for himself at the beginning of the novel, and nothing stood in his way, until Gene. After Finny's incident when he was pushed out of the tree and shattered his leg, his whole life was changed, he became a completely different person. He basically gave up on what he knew to be his life, he became bitter and a little selfish and it could easily be explained by saying that he was figuratively becoming Gene. There was one thing Finny stayed consistent in throughout the novel, and that was, for the most part, being a caring, loyal friend. Unlike Gene, Finny was genuinely a good well-rounded person, and he should have never chosen Gene as his best friend.