Relationship Between Gene And Finny In John Knowles A Separate Peace

According to the author, “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” John Knowles wrote a book titled, “A Separate Peace” that is placed in New England during World War Two. Gene is one of the two main characters in the novel who others would describe as jealous. In “A Separate Peace” Knowles describes how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him (Gene), how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect his relationship with Finny, and Gene gained his Peace. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected Gene.

North, right, black, left, south, white. At first glance, these seem to be a jumble of words. However, if you rearrange the order into ‘north, south, left, right, black, white” the words become opposites. Disparity is much more discernible when contrasting elements are placed right next to each other; in other words, juxtaposition. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters Phineas(Finny) and Gene were developed through juxtaposition, making their differences especially apparent.

Over the summer session, Gene becomes close friends with Finny, an adventurous and amazingly trusting person. Gene, on the other hand, is a person who is more self-centered and doesn’t believe in Finny’s remarkable lack of hatred that makes him so unique. He believes that Finny is jealous of his academic prowess just like he is jealous of Finny’s superior athletic ability. Soon Gene realizes that his jealousy has blinded him to Finny’s authentic benevolence. Together they go on many adventures, and one day Finny and Gene decide to climb up a tree and jump into the river. Finny is balancing on a branch, ready to jump, when Gene accidently bounces the branch, causing Finny to fall. Finny broke his leg and was told that he would never be able to play sports again. Gene feels guilty about his role in the incident and tries to convince Finny that it was his fault. Finny laughs it off and doesn’t blame Gene for his role in the incident, showing more of his amiable personality. The summer session then ends, and both the boys go back to their homes. Gene visits Finny’s home, and he tells Finny that he bounced the branch on purpose. Finny doesn’t believe him and so Gene goes back to school. Brinker Hadley, a serious and responsible class politician, asks Gene if he wants to join the army with him. Gene agrees, but Finny’s return to the school causes his and Brinker’s idea to come to nothing.

Thesis Statement: Through the death of Finny, it is evident that Gene and Finny mature, and truly find their separate peace.

Then, he wishes to become Finny the more he’s around him. Gene’s envy of Finny creates self-conscious in him. Gene exclaims, “We watch little lily-liver Lepellier not jump from the tree, and I ruin my grade” (Knowles 57). Gene decides that Finny is out to wreck his studies. He deliberates that Finny is distracting him only to pass gene. Gene’s jealousy gets the best of him Next, Gene’s envious behavior tarnishes his relationship with Finny. Finny loses reliance in Gene. Finny shouts, “You want to break something else in me!” (Knowles 184). After learning that Gene may have jounced the tree and his aid hurts him, Finny gets distressed. Likewise, Gene loses himself in Finny. They are not best friends, but the same person. The author says, “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” (Emerson). Gene believes his perseverance is to be Finny. Gene loses who he is and monitors Finny’s steps. Overall Gene’s behavior fluctuates his relationship with Finny forever. Lastly, Gene returns to Devon to discover his absence of

His personality differs numerously when comparing to the narrators. Finny is popular and extremely athletic. Gene is jealous Finny is considered to be one of the popular guys and is attracted to because he is innately good, despite his constant rule-breaking. Gene’s jealousy starts to erupt after Finny had broken the school record in swimming. After Finny had done this, Gene had said “To switch to a new sport suddenly, just for a day, and immediately break a record on it---that was about as neat a trick, as dazzling a reversal as I could, to be perfectly honest, possibly imagine” (Knowles 23). This is when Finny’s selfishness starts to appear. Finny didn’t want the narrator to tell, because “It had made Finny seem to unusual for not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry” (Knowles 23). Their personalities are too different, Finny is popular and into sports, Gene is more towards academics. Finny breaks the rules, but on the other hand, Gene follows them. Without having similar personalities, this causes Gene and Finny’s relationship to come closer to the

Gene thought that Finny was sabotaging his education because he was jealous of Gene. Gene ended up overthinking everything when Finny turned out to be a true friend. It was too late. Gene had already jounced the limb to get rid of his evil. Finny fell, eventually died, and Gene was devastated. Finny would have never expected his “best friend” to make him fall out of the tree. Even when Gene said “Finny, I’ve got something to tell you. You’re going to hate it, but there’s something I’ve got to tell you.” (Knowles 66) Finny didn’t suspect a thing by it. He would never even accuse Gene of such an action. Gene has learned that he can’t take his own motives and make an impulsive decision when it comes to genuine

John Knowles’s, A Separate Peace conveys an understanding of teenage conflicts during World War II. Numerous influential characters that amplify the struggles faced with during wartime are introduced throughout the naturalistic plot. Enclosed in this cluster of personas, each social stereotype is represented. Phineas, commonly referred to as Finny, portrays the cliche best friend: dependable, understanding, exhilarating, and drives others towards change. Gene Forrester, the protagonist, depicts the conventional image of a self-conscious adolescent male: permeating jealousy, uncertainty, and self-hatred. Stereotypical roles continue to gradually function to achieve an author’s purpose, as delineated in Knowles’s novel.

Since Gene is a follower rather than a leader, it is easy for him to be loyal to Finny and only lurk in his shadow as opposed to acting independently. This characteristic of Gene becomes evident when he

While Gene admires Finny a lot, he harbors some envy towards him for being extremely athletic. When Finny escapes trouble yet again, using the school tie as the belt, Gene feels that

The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles is about a boy who struggles with finding his identity. Throughout the novel more about the character, Gene is learned. The story shows a new perspective of the wars many people have going on inside. In the beginning of the novel, Gene Forrester is returning to his old school Devon School, he is remembering what he did fifteen years before in the middle of World War II.

The friendship they established on Finny’s excessive trust in Gene and Gene’s lack of trust in Finny.Finny’s loyalty and inability to bare the thought of his best friend hurting him on purpose caused him to place too much trust in Gene. On the other hand, Gene was not loyal to Finny. From the star of their friendship he wondered why Finny would choose him as a friend. Gene was so disloyal he could only accept Finny’s friendship as a plot to ruin his studies. Though quite odd, this peculiar combination of emotions is what made Finny and Genes’ friendship work. Over time, Finny and Gene began to become a part of each other. Once Gene realized what he thought was true was incorrect, he felt a type of pain that everyone hates to feel, shame. Gene felt horrible about what he had believed about Finny. Overwhelmed with shame and guilt Gene felt a need to come clean to Finny. Gene makes a hospital visit to Finny to talk about what happened. Finny had already thought about what happened and said this “‘It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing. Was that it?’” in response Gene said, “‘Yes, yes, that was it. Oh that was it,’” (183). When Gene agrees with Finny’s statement, Finny somehow empathizes with Gene’s struggle and

Friendship is one of the most important relationships that people form in all of their lives. Children build bonds when they are young and use those skills to continue fulfilling friendships for the rest of their lives. Throughout A Separate Peace, John Knowles displays the good things about close friendships but also the hardships that often occur. Gene and Finny are two boys that attend Devon school. Which is a school that closely reflects the one that Knowles attended while he was growing up. Both Gene and Finny emotionally grow despite their opposite personalities, and they go through several situations that force them to consider the value of their friendship. Through their time at the school, Knowles reveals Gene’s and Finny’s

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

In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the setting takes place at an all boy’s boarding school in New England called Devon, during World War II. Gene Forester is an intellectual who mainly succeeds in academics and rule-abiding. Phineas, on the other hand, is an excellent athlete, a dare-devil, a character who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, and is admired by all. During the summer of 1942, both boys stay at the Devon school, and during that summer everything changed for Gene and Finny, forever. A Separate Peace is set against the backdrop of World War II. While the war is going on, the young men of Devon School face their own psychological battles. Gene and Leper in particular create battles inside their own minds; they create division and enemies, and they deal with their difficulties in very different ways.