The Hostility Between Gene and Finny in A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Gene gains peace from guilt when he becomes self-aware, mature, and remorseful. The subsequent time that Finny injures his leg, Gene goes to see him and expresses sincere regret, showing his remorse. When visiting Finny, Gene confesses that what happened up on that tree was a rage of jealousy that had controlled him. Confessing to Finny helps Gene overcome the burden of guilt. Finny’s death causes Gene to become sad, however he was relieved that they were able fixed their friendship before it was too late. At Finny’s funeral Gene “did not cry” and “could not escape a feeling that this was [his] funeral”, showing that he lost a piece of him (Knowles 194). Gene feeling that

Gene’s act of purposely causing Finny to fall out of the tree forces him to feel guilty and move on from his tendencies of jealousy and anger. After Finny’s fall, Gene discovers that Finny is so faithful as to not even accuse Gene of his actions. This causes Gene to begin to feel extreme guilt, thence

Gene knew Finny was mad, but felt the need to talk to him. Gene climbed into his infirmary room trying to apologize, and explain. Eventually Gene reassured him that it was some a crazy impulse and not a deliberate take out. This is the last discussion the two had. The next morning the doctor confidently informs Gene that he will have Finny’s bone reset by the afternoon. However during the surgery he faces a complication, where some bone marrow travels into his bloodstream straight to his heart. With a war going on the doctor informed Gene of his best friend’s death by starting off with, “This is something I think of your generation is going to hear a lot of.” Gene Forrester said he never cried at this news because he “Couldn't escape a feeling that this was [his] own funeral.” That was how close the two

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

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

Finny pushes Gene until he get’s what he wants. As soon as Gene begins to show discomfort, Finny quickly jumps in with teasing and almost forces Gene to jump. “ Come on’, drawled Finny from below ‘Stop standing there showing off.’ I recognized with automatic tenseness that the view was very impressive from here. ‘When they torpedo the troopship’ he shouted, ‘you can’t stand around admiring the view. Jump!’ What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me?” (Knowles 10-11). Finny almost does have a sort of hold on Gene. Maybe it’s not a physical hold but emotionally, Finny is seemingly in control of Gene enough to be able to force him to do things that Gene himself things are stupid. Why would anyone go along with anything they think is stupid? Why would anyone put their own life in danger because someone else asked them to? It’s simple, Finny is a very manipulative boy who seemingly achieves what ever he sets his mind

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 this passage, Gene speaks as his older self and reflects on the meaning of his

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

Finny was such a large part of Gene, so crying would seem like self pity. There was a lot of tension between Finny and Gene after the accident on the stairs, so Gene still feeling like a part of Finny after all of that shows that the two were truly connected.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him in many ways. Gene begins to lose his identity and start conforming to Finny. According to Knowles, “If I was head of the class and won that prize then we would be even…” (27). This quote explains how Gene follows finny by trying to be head of the class with him. Gene gets jealous of Finny being head of the class, so he tells him if he was head they would be even. When Finny introduce jumping off the tree to Gene at first he didn’t want to do it, but he wanted to be like Finny so he did it. In Knowles words, “what was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me? (5).

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

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.

One instance where Knowles uses characterization in order to achieve his purpose is when Gene develops the feeling that Finny is trying to sabotage his chance of being "head of the class, valedictorian" (41). Gene thinks since Finny is the best at sports, he also desires the need to be the best scholastically, although he is "a very poor student" (44). This is Gene's explanation for assuming that Finny "deliberately set out to wreck my [Gene's] studies" (43). Gene, enraged by Finny's actions, figures the motive behind Finny trying to keep him so busy is to throw him off track with his schoolwork. Although this incident caused much jealousy and rivalry in Gene, it actually benefited him tremendously. Gene reveals, " 'I became quite a student after that. . . . Now I became not just good but exceptional' " (44).

Finny is out of school for a while and Gene admits that he caused this on purpose and Finny is distraught about