Essay A Separate Peace Dialectical Journal

Gene was jealous of Finny throughout the whole book because Finny was more athletically inclined then him, and Finny was able to do basically whatever he wanted to.¨ I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little¨(8). This lead Gene to want to be better than Finny, by being first in the class. One night while Gene was studying Finny interrupted him, as he wanted to go jump out of the tree. After a little argument Gene eventually went with Finny to the tree, but he was still kind of angry. This lead Finny to jounce the tree limb. ¨Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud¨(28). Because of this fall, Finny completely shattered his leg. He may have been able to walk again, but he would never play sports again. Because of Gene's jealousy toward Finny he decided to make a rash move, which cost his friend their

Gene thought at one point that Finny was trying to ruin his grades because Finny always made him come with him to the meetings and to play games. This drove Gene to the point where when he and Finny were on the limb of the tree, Gene bounced the limb making Finny fall and break his leg. “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (Knowles pg. 60). Gene immediately regretted it and tried to tell Finny the truth, but Finny didn’t believe him. “I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off” (Knowles pg. 70). Besides that though Gene kept the truth from Finny and was planning on never telling him. The fact that Gene kept the truth from Finny just made it worse, and when Finny found out the truth he stormed off and fell down a flight of stairs which broke his leg again. Sadly, this led to Finny’s death. When the doctors were putting his bone back in place, a piece of bone marrow went and punctured his heart. Gene never forgave

One way it affected them is because at one point, Gene thought Finny was out to get him. Gene stated “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies” (Knowles 28). Gene claimed Finny tried to sabotage his grades so “the great athlete” would be ahead of him. Gene came to the conclusion that this was the reason Finny wanted to do everything with him; to give him less time for studying. After finding out Finny’s true intensions, there relationship became stronger because they had a connection. In the story, “Phineas, too, feels their connection: after the accident, he informs Gene that he must become an athlete in Finny’s stead” (Alton). Gene becoming an athlete made there bond with each other that much better. At this point, the both of them finally started to have something they liked, and to enjoy the moment. Do to Gene’s action, he made it challenging to find

The mood of the speaker changes to guilt as the speaker and her mother realize they would "crawl" with "shame" and leave an "emptiness" in their father's heart and yard. The author negatively connotes "crawl," "shame," and "emptiness" to invoke a more serious and shameful tone. The beginning of the conveyed a more matter-of-fact and pragmatic tone, but changes into a more sentimental one by the end to convey family is more important than the money. The symbol of the tree represents the family, and connects it to their father's hard work and dedication to the family. If they were to cut it down, it would be symbolic of their betrayal. Imagery of the tree is used to describe the freedom and beauty of the tree as it "swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit." The tree represents their family bond and how strong it is even through the "whip-crack of the mortgage."

Separate Peace What really happened in the tree? Gene and Finny were very good friends; however, whatever happened in the tree the day the Finny "fell" out, is the actual cause of Gene "…My knees bent and I jounced the limb…" page 52. In fact, Finny did not fall out of the tree, but Gene had actually pushed him out. Gene had very good reasons to push him out "Finny had put him up to it, to finish me fro good on the exam." Page 49. He pushed him out of jealousy for two things. For athleticism, and for his popularity, and also for his ability to talk his way out of anything.. First, Finny was a very athletic person; however, Gene is just a normal average day person. Gene couldn't stand attempting to

Gene pushes Finny out of the tree due to jealousy. This shows just how much jealousy Gene has. He is willing to hurt someone because of one tiny thing after another. All Finny has done so far is be himself. Gene overreacts and seriously injures his “best

In the beginning of the novel, Gene, is a clueless individual. He sees the worst in people and lets his evil side take over not only his mind but also his body. During the tree scene, Gene convinces himself that Finny isn’t his friend, tricking himself into thinking that Finny is a conniving foil that wants to sabotage his academic merit. Gene is furthermore deluded that every time Finny invites Gene somewhere it’s to keep him from studying and

Gene’s envy and intimidation of Finny caused great internal turmoil with himself throughout the story. He went through and identity crisis because he was unsure of who he was and who he wanted to be. In the story, Gene said, “I went along, as I always did, with any new invention of Finny’s” (Knowles 117). He always went along with everything Finny proposed or did; this gave him little to no time to discover who he really was. This lack of personal discovery lead him to doubt who he was. This internal conflict within Gene also affected his personal actions. Before Finny’s fall, Gene said, “I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (Knowles

A second way is when he begins to try and somewhat become Phineas. Like shown here, “… a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” (Knowles 85) from the quote, Gene is stating how by doing sports for Finny gives him a sense of purpose. Also that it may help support his thought of “losing a part of himself”. This only though shows the few of many examples throughout the book of how genes envy or imitation of Finny can affect him in a way.

They were holding a club meeting and they were getting ready to jump out of the tree and Gene says “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bet and I jounced the limb” (Knowles 59 - 60). When Finny had fallen he did not know whether or not if it was jounced or if the limb just moved but he did break his leg when he fell. Gene and Finny were put on trial by their classmates to see what really happened and Gene recalls, “The excellent exterior acoustics recorded his rushing steps and the quick rapping of his cane along the corridor and on the first steps of the marble stairway. Then these separate sounds collided into the general tumult of his body falling clumsily down the white marble stairs” (Knowles 177). This was another moment of heartbreak for Gene because if Gene would not have jounced the limb Finny would have never broken his leg in the first place which would have made the trial go down hill and Finny fall because he did not want to hear what really happened. He does not want to believe it is true. This is a time in Gene’s life that is a stepping stone into adulthood. The loss of his friend felt as if he was losing a part of himself “I did not even cry then or ever about Finny. I did not even cry when we stood watching him being lowered into his family’s strait-laced burial ground outside Boston. I could not escape feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (Knowles 5). Even though something may not seem right or not the way you thought it happened, do not let it change the outlook you have on

If Finny was aware if Gene has whether supposedly made him fall off the tree to shatter his leg or as walking towards the end, he lost his balance and fell on the bank of the river.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him significantly. Gene starts to develop a personality just like Finny. As said in the novel, “‘If I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’ and I lost part of myself to him then” (Knowles 85). Due to Finny’s broken leg, he is not able to play sports anymore so he tells Gene that he needs to play sports for him. Gene loses himself to Finny.

Knowles adds Gene was,” holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (59-60). Gene’s behavior caused him to spontaneously hurt Finny. With Finny injured, Gene over looked it which caused him to mock his identity. Gene turned his relationship with Finny toxic, but he was still able to achieve

This is ironic because Gene is throwing his life and innocence away at this moment. This jump is the start of a downhill battle that ends when Gene jounces the limb making Finny fall out of the tree. After Finny falls, Gene’s guilt begins. This leads to the guilt affecting Finny.

First, Gene admits to being guilty of shaking a tree in order to injure Finny when he visits him at his home, making Finny livid, and temporarily tearing them apart. Gene is envious of Finny’s athletic ability and bravery. One way Finny shows his bravery is by jumping off a tree for fun. Gene is greatly threatened by the bravery, so he decides to strip it from Finny by shaking the tree one day, making him fall and suffer an injury. Consequently, he instantly regrets his decision, but he realizes that the damage is done. Remorsefully, he wants to apologize for his terrible choice, but when he tries to talk about the situation and confess, Finny is in denial and starts to get angry. Finny’s denial is evident when he says “‘I don’t know anything. Go away. I’m tired and you make me sick. Go away’” (Knowles 70). This dialogue shows how Finny did not believe that Gene caused the incident even after the confession. This is because he believes that Gene would not do such an action. The confession tears Finny apart to the point that he lashes out at Gene and wants him to leave his house. If Gene did not commit the notorious action, Finny would not have to feel the pain physically from the injury, and mentally from the idea that Gene would hurt him, and the boys could have a stronger friendship.