Catcher In The Rye Dialectical Journal

The author made it feel as though Gene was the one that competed so fully in the pair’s relationship when Finny was supposed to be the one with the competitive nature. In the beginning of the novel, before Finny’s accident, Gene felt like Finny was taking advantage of him and making him take time away from his studies to do pointless things. He felt this way because

Gene helping Finny with schoolwork is helpful, but Finny does not show appreciation towards Gene. This shows lack of admiration on Finny’s part. It’s not just Finny showing lack of admiration it’s a combination of both of them not understanding each other. Finny always includes Gene in activities, for example: skiing, hanging out with friends, going to the boardwalk and being part of a club. He never realizes what kind of friend Finny was to be to him. Sadly, they can never get anywhere in there friendship cause they fight about everything. Both characters are separate from each other and can never find common ground. Their intentions start out decent until they actually got to know each other. They both have qualities that each character want’s except they both seem to want what they can’t have. Jealousy is what leads to resentment and lack of

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

As Gene feels the obligation to lose himself to become Finny, Knowles shows us that a loss of identity may be present in a relationship if there is an unequal amount of power. When Finny tells Gene that he has to play sports in the place of Finny himself, Gene says, “I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas” (77). Gene loses who he is to become the powerful Finny because told him to do so. He feels the need to give up his identity seeing that he has the order to do. This results in an unequal friendship because a true friend would never force someone to do something that would make them lose who they actually are. Gene and Finny’s unbalanced friendship eventually causes paranoia and insecurity on the less powerful side known as Gene because he is giving himself up.

Instead of joining Finny wholeheartedly and honestly speaking through feelings (about studying for exams, for example), Gene suppresses their mixed emotions and becomes the new experience of freedom in other conformity: It was decided to follow Finny's whims without exception or risk losing their friendship. This way of thinking "all or nothing" childlike in its simplicity, leads to Gene Finny to resent and ultimately causes the violent explosion that destroys a

Finny is very outgoing and rebellious while Gene is smart and plays by the rules. Gene also wishes that he was more like Finny. “To keep silent about this amazing happening deepened this shock for me. It made Finny seem too unusual for not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry, and there were few relationships among us at Devon not based on rivalry.” (63) Gene has a desire to be like Finny and have a more rebellious attitude instead of his caring attitude but he just cant. Gene is always Jealous of Finny and spends too much time worrying about him. The beliefs of Finny and Gene are very different but that is one way Gene are very different but that is one way Gene doesn't want to be like

A Separate Peace “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” (Emerson 370). The author John Knowles, goes back to his old high school in Devon, New Hemisphere to find his peace. Gene’s characteristics in the novel shows that he is jealous, smart and conformed. A Separate Peace demonstrates how Gene’s jealously affects him, affects his friend and helps him find his peace. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him.

Finny and Gene have a close friendship in Finny’s eyes at the beginning of the book. Gene is jealous of Finny of how he gets anything he wants and does t have to work for it. Gene feels like they are bonded through competition. Gene always got talked into things he didn't want to do by Finny. In chapter one page 17 Gene says to himself “ What was I doing up here anyway? why did i let Finny talk me

Gene and Finny are often depicted in the book as the best of friends. They do everything together, including getting into trouble. But, too much time together can lead

I believe that Finny and Gene had a complicated friendship. Finny was someone who genuinely loved Gene and thought of him as his best friend. Basically, the friendship was one-sided most of the time. In my opinion, I think that Gene always believed it was a rivalry between the two of them. I could tell that he did like Finny, but he was just jealous of him. He may have thought Finny was out to get him. For example, on page 17-18, Finny said, “It’s you pal, just you and me.” He was referring to them jumping off of the tree into water. Gene might have thought that somehow sounded like some kind of challenge. After the fall (page 60) Gene started acting really weird. He was filled from head to toe with guilt and he couldn’t help but feel sorry

Many argue that Finny and Gene’s relationship represents the desperate struggle of humanity to maintain innocence that humans in general experience. The juxtaposition of Finny’s supposed innocence to Gene’s newfound inner darkness

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.

Finny has a personality that is great and outstanding that everyone likes and is a very smart and intelligent. Although his relationship is good with finny until the accident when finny fell out the tree and broke his leg. Gene on the other hand is kinda selfish in their relationship, he thinks that just because Finny broke his leg he can do everything like he doesn't need him. In life you are always going to need someone to help you get up when you

Little sorrow and sadness is expressed around school, even in Gene; no one talks about what happened but everyone remembers, especially Gene. Throughout the novel, John Knowles' strong characterization of Finny results in a more developed and wiser Gene; in the end, Finny actually makes Gene a better person.

Gene refuses to recognize his own feelings of insecurity and jealousy as his real enemy. This subconscious denial leads to the downfall of his friendship with Finny. Gene