A Separate Peace: Jealousy

4. Rivalry: A rivalry is a relationship between two people or groups that are competing for success in the same field. It is unlike any other competition between two groups. This is because it includes much more emotion and higher stakes.

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

“I don’t give any reason for anyone to hate me. They create their own little drama out of jealousy.”-David James. Gene is jealous of Phineas, because he is better at everything. In the book A Separate Peace there is a lot of evidence proving this quote.

In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the protagonist Gene Forrester constantly battles within himself to find the true emotion towards his friend Phineas and to find out who he really is. Gene and Phineas formed an illusion of companionship, but there was always a silent rivalry between them in Gene’s mind. In the beginning, Gene thought his feeling towards Phineas was completely normal and it will go away in time. However, as the time went on and Gene matured he found out that his feeling was much more than little jealousy but it has turned into hate. Gene Forrester develops into a mature adult when he finally accepts his feeling and faces reality.

“It struck me then that I was injuring him again” (75). This quote showcases that over time, Gene treats Phineas differently after he has seen how his jealousy has affected him. Gene always acts like there is a competition between him and his best friend, Phineas. After he and the other characters have suffered throughout the book, he learns to confront his jealousy and to move forward after. Throughout the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester matures and learns how to understand his actions and how they impact other characters, and teaches readers that they can move forward if they learn to face their problems.

First of all, Gene Forrester is the narrator and one of the main characters in the novel. One of Gene’s best friends is Phineas, another main character in the novel, and an important one as well. Gene and Phineas’s relationship has its ups and downs. One of the downs being, Gene's feeling of jealousy towards Phineas. Phineas is an athletic champion and a charmer, someone everyone adores. These same qualities of Phineas make academic and studious Gene envious. The envy drives Gene to try to be a better student than Phineas, thinking that would make them equal. He thought that if he could be the smartest person in the class, then it would be equal to Phineas’s athletic stardom. What he did not know was it would change him as a person and his

The novel “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles is a story of friendship and conflict. John Knowles uses Gene’s envy to demonstrate that jealousy ruins friendships. This is shown multiple times, including fake friendships, internal conflict becoming physical, and all conflict resulting in the loss of trust of one another.

The author’s use of parallel character’s aids the reader to comprehend the deeper meaning and realize the character’s maturation throughout the text. Knowles uses The Bible to allow for the reader to better understand the relationship of the characters. Gene often talks of how he “lost a part of himself to [Finny]” (Knowles 85) similarly to how Eve was “made from the rib [God] had taken out of man” (Genesis 2:22). This presents the reader with the realization that Eve and Gene are akin. People are also able to understand this when Finny dies because Gene “[felt] that [it] was [his] own funeral” (Knowles 194) and suffered just as much. In Genesis Adam and Eve’s “eyes… were opened” (Genesis 3:7) when Eve ate the fruit enabling both of them feel the impact of Eve’s actions. This is also the case in A Separate Peace, both Gene and Finny mature because of Phineas’s fall. Finny “looked older than [Gene] had ever seen him” (Knowles 70) and the reader is able to feel how “peace had deserted” (Knowles 73) Gene. Also, all of the character’s fates are determined by greed of either Eve or Gene, causing their maturation to occur. Over the course of the book Knowles continuously allows one to see how Gene and Phineas are made for each other, allowing them to learn and grow together, just like Adam and

“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.

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.

-Gene Forrester was the main character of the novel, A Separate Peace. I can relate to Gene’s competitiveness with his best friend, yet I admire Gene’s intelligence and determination. The reason I relate to Gene’s competitive nature is because I am also competitive with my friends, as they are with me. I admire Gene’s intelligence that not only naturally comes to him, but his determination to keep his grades up at The Devon School. The reason I admire him for these traits are because I find myself struggling to balance out my academics and social life during the school year. I see Gene as a role model because of the way he seems to maintain his studies and friends.

Human nature is notorious for its trait of jealousy. One may grow hostile when he desperately seeks another’s possession or talent. This statement is evident in the character of Gene from John Knowles’ A Separate Peace. Throughout the story, he is jealous because his friend, Finny, has exceptional athletic ability. After one regretful action from Gene, Finny starts facing tough circumstances, eventually separating them. A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene demonstrates how envy can tear friendships apart.

Jealousy is an emotion very evident in our society. We often compare ourselves to others, noticing what they have that we do not, most commonly in terms of money or looks. Even those close to us spark our jealousy, maybe a friend or sibling; although most wouldn't admit the fact. Author John Knowles touches on this subject in his first published novel A Separate Peace. Through the voice of Gene, Knowles uses figurative language in a self-deprecating tone to show jealousy, as evident in the passage, “The second wave, as it tore toward the beach with me, spewed me a little ahead of it, encroaching rapidly; suddenly it was immeasurably bigger than I was, it rushed me from the control of gravity and took control of me itself; the wave threw me

What is an enemy? An enemy is someone who is actively opposed or hostile to someone orsomething. Enemies happen in many ways, some start with friendship. In a separate peacewrittenby John Knowles there are two boys, one named Finny, and the other one is Gene. Theystarted off as strangers, then friends, then best friends and then they became enemies.

Though it may sound like a myth, the green-eyed monster is as real as the person sitting next to you. Its prevalence is unsettling and so is its ability to make you feel pain unlike you’ve ever felt before. It is envy, raw and unavoidable; just like its counterpart, jealousy. These feelings are an everyday occurrence that everyone must cope with. It is the yearning for what someone else has that can shake us all to the core. Along with envy and jealousy come many physical, mental and emotional side effects. Relationships can become extremely strained and even fall apart under the sheer power of these emotions. How we understand ourselves can also become a very tainted vision. The main characters from John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene and Finny, are a great example of how envy and jealousy can affect our lives. Gene, Finny and everyday people show how envy and jealousy can negatively impact our relationships and distort our understanding of ourselves.