The Sniper And Gene Forrester : Risk-Risk Analysis

Sometimes this causes built up resentment and eventually could cause both of the friends to be hurt because of one rash decision like shaking a tree branch. While only Phineas was physically hurt Gene was in an emotional battle with himself about what he has done to Finny and what he thinks of him. Eventually the other boys at Devon find out Gene shook the tree branch, which causes them to lose respect of him. The thought of shaking Phineas out of a tree would have never normally crossed Gene’s mind but him viewing Phineas as a competitor instead of a friend made the idea seem fine for the split second it took for him to shake the branch. The idea hit him just like when he thinks about stealing the doctor’s car. He only even thinks about shaking the limb for an instant, a single life changing moment, and with “some kind of blind impulse”, as Phineas describes it, he shakes the branch. In contrast when he “idly considered stealing” a car even if he thinks about it for a second he can decide not to after the first few steps. Once the tree branch is shaken Phineas’ fate is sealed. Competition and rivalry can cause people to replace trust in each other with protection from each other and cause them to build up walls to separate and protect themselves from their competitors. Not everyone constructs these fortresses of secrets and distrust. Some people are open and trusting of

Gene was jealous of Finny throughout the whole book because Finny was more athletically inclined then him, and Finny was able to do basically whatever he wanted to.¨ I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little¨(8). This lead Gene to want to be better than Finny, by being first in the class. One night while Gene was studying Finny interrupted him, as he wanted to go jump out of the tree. After a little argument Gene eventually went with Finny to the tree, but he was still kind of angry. This lead Finny to jounce the tree limb. ¨Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud¨(28). Because of this fall, Finny completely shattered his leg. He may have been able to walk again, but he would never play sports again. Because of Gene's jealousy toward Finny he decided to make a rash move, which cost his friend their

There are many reasons why people take risks even though it is crazy and impossible. For example, in the memoir, “The Other Side of the Sky”, it shows that Farah Ahmedi is climbing a mountain with a prosthetic leg. In the fictional story, “Rikki-tikki-tavi”, in this story the mongoose, Rikki-tikki-tavi takes the risk of going into a snake 's burrow which has a high possibility that he will be killed. In the poem, “The Song of Wandering Aengus”, Aengus goes on a crazy mission that might take his whole life to accomplish which is to find the “glimmering girl” because he is in love with that girl. Aengus wanted to find the “glimmering girl” that he in love with, while Rikki-tikki-tavi and Farah Ahmedi wanted

Anybody who takes a full role in society takes risks: crossing the road, using a bus, driving a car, and talking to people they do not know. Risk may be physical (injury and accident), emotional (humiliation, sense of failure), or mental (stress).

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

Gene was attempting to be top of his class academically, but he was continuously being distracted by Finny. Oneday Gene decided to ask Finny if he would be upset if Gene was top of their class. Finny responded by saying, “‘I’d kill myself out of jealous envy’” (Knowles 52). Although Phineas said that in a joking manner, it is clearly that he really would be jealous if Gene was top of their class. Finny loved to be first, and he didn’t like when people threatened his position. After pondering on Finny’s comment, Gene realized, that he may have, “deliberately set out to wreck [his] studies” (Knowles 53). Finny clearly had extreme envy of Gene for better academically. It is unhealthy for friends to be jealous of each other, especially when taken to that extreme. Finny was being unsupportive and selfish, just so that he could be better than Gene.

In John Knowles, A Separate Peace, Gene waged a war of jealousy towards his best friend, Finny. Finny was blinded by innocence and did not foresee Gene's true intentions. Throughout the novel, Gene's jealousy continued to grow along with ignorance that he attributed to his own heart. Gene's jealousy and ignorance caused him to deeply hurt his friend Finny. Gene was not able to control all of his hatred, anger, and jealousy when he and Finny were up on the tree during a Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session meeting.

Gene Forrester narrates the novel by recalling his experiences at the Devon School. He tells the story in an uncomfortable and melancholy, tone describing how his jealousy and insecurity get the better of him. This resembles the song “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon as it refers to a man that puts down others as a way to compensate for his own imperfections. A lyric from the song that relates to Gene is “I was dreaming of the past and my heart was beating fast, I began to lose control,” due to his failure to compose himself in a jealous fit directed towards his best friend, Phineas for his athleticism and optimistic view of the world. The burst of emotion leads to the catastrophic and detrimental incident resulting in Phineas falling from a tree.

Being willing to take risks is the act or fact of doing something that involves danger or risk in order to achieve a goal. Rudy takes a risk when he leaves his steady steel job to try to go to college. This is a huge risks for Rudy because he is leaving the only source of income he has behind for the chance to be accepted into Notre Dame. Another risk Rudy takes is when he joins the football boosters and says he is a student. This is a risk for Rudy because he could get in trouble for lying.

In the John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, you hear the story of a young boy named Gene and his friends during their time at a boarding school called Devon Prep. This is a very stressful time for the boys because they are soon to become the age where they can be drafted to fight in WW2. During this time Gene accidentally hurts his best friend Phineas by causing him to fall off a tree. Although Gene shows much jealousy towards Phineas throughout the story, I believe he had no intention to harm him. Based on Gene’s previous actions and how he reacts to the situation, you can see that what happened was clearly an accident.

Normally when you think of friends, you do not associate them with fear. It seems like Knowles associated fear with Gene's friends. After purposely jostling the tree branch to injure Phineas, Gene did not want to immediately tell Phineas what had actually happened. Gene said that his fear of jumping off the tree branch was forgotten after this event. Phineas did not know if he had fallen on his own or if he had been pushed by Gene. Gene was understandably worried about Finny's reaction to this conversation, so he put the conversation off for as long as he could. He also did not completely trust Phineas. Even though they were supposedly friends, Gene thought that Finny was secretly one of his rivals. Gene said, "The way I believed that you're-my-best-friend blabber" (Knowles 53). Finally, Gene showed that he was fearful of his friends toward the ending of A Separate Peace. When Brinker decided that there must be a trial to determine what had happened to Phineas, Gene fretted about what his fellow students might discover about him. Brinker said, "What I mean is it wouldn't do you any harm, you know, if everything about Finny's accident was cleared up and forgotten" (Knowles 160). He did not want them to find out about his role in Finny's injury. After Phineas injured his leg rushing down the steps of the Assembly Hall, Gene seemed to have a sense of fear until Finny died. Phineas never seemed to fear Gene, even after he had found out about Gene's role in his injury.

Gene lived in fear when Finny broke his leg after falling off the tree near the river “with a sickening, unnatural thud” (28). Gene shook the branch in a spastic (erratic) manner and Gene caused Finny to fall. Finny’s leg was shattered and, when Gene was visiting Finny, his doctor told Gene, “Sports are finished for him, after an accident like that. Of course” (29). Gene realized that he shook the branch, whether consciously or unconsciously, and he broke Finny’s leg out of paranoia. Gene feared that Finny was just using him and would betray him when he didn’t need him. Gene did all this entirely out of fear and being afraid of fearing his best

Gene Forrester is a character developed through his actions, dialogues, and thoughts that contribute to his personality traits. Gene’s thoughts and actions distinguish his personality from that of other characters. Gene hides his true nature in the environment of the novel but exposes himself to the reader through his thinking and reflection. Gene is revealed to be insecure and jealous through his narration of the story. Firstly, Gene’s insecurity and jealousy are unveiled through his actions, thinking, and dialogue.

Imagine being faced with the opportunity to harm your enemy... Would you? That is the opportunity that Gene Forester is faced with in the novel A Separate Peace. Gene and Phineas were the types of friends that looked like they got along on both sides, but Gene hated this kid and how it impacted himself. So naturally, when Gene was on the branch with Finny, he had an urge to hurt Finny. That’s why, Gene Purposely jounced the branch they were on because he was immature, selfish, and jealous. This poor behavior ultimately led to Phineas’s death.

John Knowles illustrates this moment by writing, “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny his balance gone … tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud” (Knowles 59-60). This moment of violence was a result of Forrester’s anger. He was not thinking about the consequences. All he knew was he hated Phineas. Forrester later is shocked to discover Phineas will never play sports again. Knowles describes Forrester’s initial response when he writes, “I burst out crying into my hands; I cried for Phineas and for myself and for this doctor who believed in facing things. Most of all I cried because of kindness, which I had not expected” (Knowles 64). At this moment, Gene Forrester realized what his actions have caused. He feels personally victimized as if it happened to