A Separate Peace Relationship Between Gene And Finny

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

In order to find the answer to that question, we must look at the bad things and the good things about their relationship. Let’s start with the good things. Gene and Finny complemented each other. Where Gene lacked in athletics, Phineas exceeded, and where Finny lacked in grades, Gene exceeded. After Finny’s tragic accident, which meant he could no longer play sports, he helped Gene become athletic to take his place. Since Finny was crippled, Gene helped him get better

As you can see, Gene had much reason to push Finny out of the tree. It was from jealousy from Finny's athleticism, his popularity, and his ability to talk his way out of almost anything. Only Gene knew that Finny was the only person at the school that could accomplish so many things, and Gene did not want to deal with Phineas

After the realization of the person he truly is Gene confronts with his problems, faces reality, and deals with the future. He learns a lot about life and relationships when he finds about his true self. He learns that he must truly express his feelings and communicate instead of keeping all the feelings inside as he had always done with Phineas. Also he learns to listen to himself not others around him if he wants a true advice. After a while, he faced reality and acknowledged the fact that he was not as great was Phineas but they were two different individuals and they were unique in different ways. Gene accepted the guilt for Phineas’ difficulties after his accident and decided he must he must help him as a punishment and act of repentance for what his deed. He does this by giving part of himself to Phineas as we see with the case of the sports

At the start, Gene is instantly jealousy of Finny, creating a fake friendship that is fueled by competition. This is shown when he wants to do something so he is good at, so he “was becoming the best student in the school: Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even” (Knowles 55). This proves that their friendship is fueled by competition because it shows that Gene always wants to be even. This

“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.

When Gene is quick to realize that him and Finny will never be of the same power, Knowles shows us that a loss of identity may be present in a relationship if there is an unequal amount of power. Gene realizes that Finny is someone who can do anything and he states that “He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could be any rivalry between us. I was not the same quality as he” (59). Gene’s low self-esteem starts to build up as he explains that no matter how hard he tries, he will never be as good and powerful as Phineas. Finny has everything in his power and is capable of so many things also remaining his own person. However, Gene feels the complete opposite as he understands that to become someone as mighty as Finny, he has to change who he is to even get Finny to notice him as a threat. As a result of this unequal

He is never satisfied with himself. Gene hangs pictures on his wall “...of plantation mansions, moss-hung trees by moonlight, lazy roads winding dustily past the cabins of the Negroes” (156) to give the impression that he is a southern aristocrat which was “...a barefaced lie about [his] background…” (156). He also very jealous of Finny and feels that he wants to be like him. This is evident when he decides to put of Finny’s cordovan shoes, pants, and pink shirt. When Gene looked in the mirror, he felt like he became Finny. It made him feel good about himself because he was finally the person he was yearning to be but in the morning he was faced with the reality that he caused Finny to fall out of the tree. Gene usually feels like an ant, a humble nothing, but when he “transformed” into Phineas he feels less like an ant. He feels as superior as he sees Finny. He rose above his ant-like feelings in this moment. Gene is the cause of his low self-esteem because he feels the need to compare himself to Phineas. When Gene realizes that he is a very different person from Phineas it makes him feel lower. Phineas is a 16 year old athlete with

To begin with, Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him. He is affected because he begins to forget the consequences that he could receive for the things he does with Finny. For example,

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.

In “a Separate Peace”, Gene made one selfish decision that ruined Phineas's (or Finny) life as he knew it. The day Finny fell off the limb of the tree was Gene's fault. Finny had been great at sports, so Gene was motivated to be good at his academics and out do Finny at their school. When Finny had Gene come with him that day to jump out of the tree, Gene thought Finny was trying to take away time from his studies. He jostled the limb which made Finny fall and just happened to break his leg on the fall down; not allowing him to play sports ever again. This decision Gene made costed finny his life. Near the end of the book one of their classmates, Brinker, called a meeting to find the truth about what happened on the tree. Finny ran out because

The book “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles has two teenage kids going through the Devon Boarding School. The book shows Finny and Gene’s unique traits. The setting of A Separate Peace reveals Gene to be envious, unathletic, and intelligent. Most of the story takes place in the 1940’s and 50’s at the Devon School.

Finally, though, Gene does confess, saying that shaking the limb that caused Finny to fall wasn’t a premeditated act. Of course, Gene, himself, doesn’t quite believe that his own confession is completely truthful; nevertheless, Finny does accept Gene’s words as honest, further proving that Phineas is the better person. Finny later dies of complications during an operation to repair his leg, and Gene is left knowing that Finny was truly good and that he, himself, is a bad person. Therefore, for Gene, Phineas’ death symbolizes the loss of innocence by completing his recognition of the presence of evil in the world because he resolves that, indeed, he himself is capable of perpetrating that

Gene belittles himself to Phineas and worries about little things such as, when Phineas falls off the tree Gene says, “It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make” (60). Finny rarely messes up and Gene oddly focuses on him when

Then, Gene’s feelings towards Phineas made him shake the limb to knock Phineas out of the tree. Despite the jealousy and hostility that Gene feels, Phineas did not have any of these feelings in return. Finny’s innocence and kindness towards Gene amplifies the significance of Gene’s actions. This scene is