During Gene’s time at Devon, he faced many internal conflicts. Most of which consisted in forms of raging envy for Finny’s unconditional talent for any sport, good looks, and popularity. Instead of accepting the fact that Finny was simply a better human and leaning his focus onto self-improvement, he concluded that Finny must be jealous too. Gene wanted to excel at something related to how Finny had exceeded. Wistfully Gene’s plan later resulted in Phineas’ death; therefore, he clearly did not deal with his conflict in an appropriate way, but Finny’s death did end Gene’s war.…
A Separate Peace by John Knowles had a number of underlying metaphors throughout the story; relating the lives of Gene and Finny to the war taking place and giving Finny many Christ-like characteristics. The metaphor of war was not obvious until it was mentioned in class, and it made sense as soon as it was stated. In general, Gene’s beliefs of his friendship with Finny are similar to the beliefs of opposing sides in a war. While Gene had suspicious feelings towards his best friend, Finny was almost too nice and forgiving.…
Finny is a manipulative person to others and makes them do what he wants no matter what they have to do. He doesn’t seem to care too much as long as it works out for him. Finny never gets in trouble since he lies his way to innocence. A clear example of this is when Finny and Gene walk to dinner Finny wrestles Gene to the ground and then they end up skipping dinner because they fell in the river before. Finny and Gene are confronted by a teacher for skipping dinner…
Since the beginning of time, humans have been plagued with conflict as they struggle to survive and make their places in the world, to help them live peaceably with each other, they have created laws and rules. Sometimes, their fears get the best of them; however. They become envious of each other and insecure about their own shortcomings. They sometimes make enemies of each other and wage war against them. John Knowles’s book, A Separate Peace, captures these themes of conflict.…
Phineas’ best trait before his injury was his athletic ability. Gene’s worst trait the entire novel was his athletic ability. This caused an intense disparity between the two from Gene’s point of view up until the moment Finny died. The seed of this jealousy came when…
Eventually, these harsh feelings lead to Gene’s dishonesty with the readers. John Knowles illustrates the complexity of friendship through Gene’s dishonesty. Gene’s dishonesty leads to a complex friendship between him and Phineas. Throughout this novel, there are many examples in which Gene and Finny’s friendship is questionable, to say the least.…
The idea that Finny is the enemy is rooted in Gene’s belief that Phineas is simply superior to him. He sees all the accomplishments that Phineas achieves and his jealousy distorts the friendship the boys once possessed. The lack of understanding within the friendship between Gene and Phineas is the ultimate cause of this war that has manifested between them. The false reality of the enmity within the friendship that Gene creates is similar to the false reality that Finny will later create in regard to the war. Dealing with these false realities are the battles that Gene and Phineas are really fighting.…
A foil in literature is someone that makes another character seem better by contrast. Since A Separate Peace is narrated from Gene's point of view, his insecurities are pitted against Finny's greatest talents. For example, Gene feels insecure because he compares his introverted self and academic achievement with Finny's extroverted personality and athletic abilities. This does not provide the satisfaction he is seeking because it is as if he is comparing the proverbial apples to oranges. As many people do, Gene sees his weaknesses in Finny's strengths.…
Though Phineas and Gene were best friends, they couldn’t have been any more different. Throughout the novel “A Separate Peace”, these characters pushed through many trials and tribulations including death. Faced with the war and life on the battlefield, the boys were ready and able. However, not one of them was prepared for what would happen right at home. In a twist of events, Gene causes Finny to fall out of a tree and break his leg; a break that would ultimately kill him.…
Other characters in the novel such as Leper are going through similar battles over the reality of the world. The concurrent war and other battles impact Gene’s own conflict. Gene thinks of Phineas [Finny], his best friend as his enemy until he realizes that his true enemy is himself because of his envy…
Also, Finny shows that his behavior is typical of that of a human being in general is when he does not want to know the truth about if Gene really did cause him to fall off the limb. This is typical behavior because a lot of people choose not to believe something that they hope is not true. These two characters illustrate a vast majority of human beings in general through their behavior throughout the novel. To conclude, Gene and Phineas are two unified characters who are brought together by their opposite personality traits.…
In Gene’s eyes, Phineas was a serious threat to him, both socially and academically. Gene’s human nature responded to the threat by trying to control and eradicate the threat. This egotistical need to control Phineas’ success drove Gene to fluctuate the tree and eventually kill Phineas. It is this need for control that drives human…
A Separate Peace begins in the summer of 1942, set at the Devon School in New Hampshire. It is told from the point of view of Gene Forrester. During the summer session of 1942, he becomes friends with his reckless roommate Finny, or Phineas. Finny persuades Gene into jumping out of a tree into a river, and the two friends start a secret society based on this ritual. After Finny broke a school swimming record on his first try, Gene becomes jealous of his athletic abilities.…
These constraining thoughts took over the best of Gene which forced him to shake the branch and force Phineas to fall to the bank of the river. Gene feeling remorse after his triumph of annihilation of his competitor turned into fear and hopelessness. Gene just deliberately made Phineas his only true friend fall. Gene rushed to see Phineas and the condition that he was in, hoping that Phineas might forgive Gene, but like most he instinctively was trying to hand over the pain and blame to the very person that endured the pain, Phineas, by saying “how did you fall, how could you fall off like that?” (P. 65)…
“Wait up” peade called “Come on don’t be such a slowpoke,” Sallie yelled down the hallway to peace. Sallie and I were rscing down s ling hallway to our dorms. “Iwin “ sallie yelled a bit too loud. There was a note hanging on the door it read,leave or i will make you. I was shaken up.…