In a world of many people, conflicts arise within those people. The novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, tells a story about two boys, their coming of age story and the conflicts that arise with their coming of age. In the novel, both boys try to stay true to who they are as people. But only one of those boys stays true to who they are. Overall, the way each boy responds to events that occur shows who they really are inside and how different the boys are. Throughout the book Knowles teaches the reader each of the boy’s has their struggles but, each boy also has their own unique strengths. For example, when Finny came to get Gene to go and watch Leper finally jump out of the tree and Gene could not go and watch that because he had to study …show more content…
For Example, one of Gene’s weaknesses is that he is constantly thinking everyone is out to get him, so he does things that he will later regret, “I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (60). This quote shows that Gene will do things because of jealousy, frustration, or regret. This also shows Gene’s weakness because before this Finny told Gene that he should study instead of go to the tree yet Gene decided to go to the tree and kept in mind that Finny was out to get him. Another example of Gene’s weaknesses is that he never says what he wants to say, so when Finny asked Gene if he would go with Finny to the beach for the night, Gene wanted to say no so bad and yet he says, “‘All right’, I said” (46). This shows that Gene’s subconscious will take over and say things that he thinks that other people will want to hear. This also shows that Gene isn 't good at telling people exactly what he wants to do and this doesn 't help him later on. We see that one of Gene’s struggles is to do what other people want and not what he does but when Gene does do what he wants to do then it doesn 't end well, while Finny on the other hand says exactly what he wants to say. An example of Finny’s weakness is, Finny has certain moralities that he lives by and his weakness is that he would never believe that one of his best friend’s broke one of his morals, we see this when Gene and Finny are talking they say, “‘I jounced the limb. I caused it’ [Gene said]... ‘Of course you didn’t’ [Finny said]... ‘Of course you didn’t you damn fool’” (70). This shows Finny’s weaknesses because he will believe his closest friend didn’t purposefully hurt him because he has put so much trust into Gene. This also shows another weakness that Finny has becuase it shows that Finny will put so much trust into one person that he will
Gene telling Finny this not only shows their improvement in trusting each other because before the incident Gene would never question Finny, especially about his health, but it also shows that he cares about Finny and doesn't like seeing him injured or hurt. Soon after this, Finny and Gene are talking, and Finny brings up teachers. (#163) "Naturally, I don't believe in teachers (he came across a few paces), but I do believe it's important to believe in you." Finny telling Gene this is really important to their friendship because he's never told Gene anything like this, and it shows that Finny trusts Gene more than anyone. These are the last things showing Finny and Gene's
He realizes that the horrors of the war have lead to even more injuries, caused solely by his own lack of self-control. He attempts to justify his “brief burst of animosity” when he pushes Finny out of the tree by recounting how soldiers were killing fellow soldiers without any regard for human life. Phrases such as “shooting flames”, “grilling other people alive”, and “exploding into flame” embody Gene’s new violent personality. Throughout the novel, he has numerous other violent outbursts. For example, when Gene reports to his job as assistant senior crew manager, the head manager, Quackenbush insults him and Gene retaliates by starting a fist fight.
Since Finny cannot play sports anymore because of his broken leg, he tells Gene that he has to do it for him. Gene realizes that this is his destiny; to become an extension of Phineas. Another way he is affected is that he starts to lose his own ways by copying Finny. When Finny was in the hospital wing of the school, Gene put his clothes on and said “that I would never stumble through the confessions
The author writing Finny’s dialogue always assumes the innocence of Gene, no matter the sentence. It is the clearest in this excerpt: “‘Yes, I remember seeing you standing on the bank. You were looking up and your hair was plastered down over your forehead so you had that dumb look you always have when you’ve been in the water - what was it you said? ‘Stop posing up there’ or one of those best-pal cracks you’re always making.’ He was very happy.”
He still encourages Gene to do the things that Finny no longer can because he wants to see someone else flourish, and most importantly: his friend. After Finny’s death, Gene even declares that “nothing … had broken [Finny’s] harmonious and natural unity” (Knowles 203). Since Gene exclaims this, the reader understands that Finny
Gene, who is known for following rules and not letting impulse rule him like Finny found himself unable to resist;, even when he was on top of the tree ready to leap into the water his secondary process attempted to persuade him from jumping, but with the aid of Finny it was his primary process that ended up leading him to do things he wouldn’t normally do. We could also say that Finny realizes that he’s Gene’s primary process. The moment Gene completed his jump into the water, Finny than states, “I’m good for you that way. You have a tendency to back away from things
The relationship between Gene and Finny changes and evolves, influenced by actions and consequences and filtered by changing perceptions. The changes are frequently by-products of Gene's insecurity and his constant self-evaluation. At times, Gene and Finny are the best of friends, sharing adventures and feelings with complete openness and honesty. At other times, Gene considered Finny to be a rival and a detriment to Gene's ability to all that he could or hoped to accomplish at Devon. This quote helps support how their relationship.
Gene wanted Finny to get in trouble for what Finny had did, which had worn his tie as a belt. He hated that Finny got away with almost anything that he did wrong and wanted to go down someday. Another way their relationship is affected is through Gene’s lack of self-finding and liking. Gene hated that he never was like Finny, so he started to acting and do things that Finny did. That caused a lot of jealousy, guilt, and self-destruction from throughout the relationship that Gene and Finny had.
Therefore, Gene always tried to make Finny jealous and that pushed him to hurt him in the
Once the doctor came out and explain Finny's condition to Gene, he says Finny wants to talk to Gene. Gene then thinks, “Finny would say nothing behind my back, he would accuse me face to face.” (64) Gene knew that Finny would be mad at him after the tree incident. He expected this because he knew that it was true what he did. Gene doesn't doubt that Finny
Gene’s survival was dependent on Finny’s death. When Gene jounces the limb he shatters Finny’s leg, as well as his heart. Finny knows that Gene purposely caused his fall, but can’t let his “best pal” be exposed. Finny will do anything to save Gene from Leprosy. Finny realizes that Gene “just didn’t know” what he had done, and forgives his sin, which saves Gene.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a fictional book about Gene Forrester, a student at Devon Private Boarding School. This story takes place during the 1940s when World War II was becoming more and more a part of daily life at Devon. The war encroaches and finally dominates the lives of the boys at Devon. Starting with the boys shoveling snow off of the train tracks, then their friend, Leper, enlists, and finally troops get permanently stationed at Devon.
Before the injury, Gene would scream at Finny,but now he feels like he owes Finny his kindness. This passive and emotional Gene is probably the greatest evidence to show that Gene is a dynamic character. Before the injury when Finny would try to explain anything Gene would reply in annoyed tone, “‘Oh, for God sake.’ I slammed close the french book”(57). After the injury however Gene felt like he constantly had a space to fill to make Phineas feel better.
They are supposed to be best friends, but Gene envies him and thinks he is trying to make him look bad. After Finny’s accident, Gene struggled with guilt and his life was changed because of it. “I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was. One evening when I was dressing for dinner in this numbed frame of mind, an idea occurred to me, the first with any energy behind it since Finny fell from the tree. I decided to put on his clothes” (Knowles 29).
In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, the main character, Gene Forrester, undergoes a traumatic journey to develop the aspects necessary for coping through adulthood. This novel is a flashback to the year of 1942, when Gene attends his final year at Devon High School, in New Hampshire. Although Gene appears to be Finny’s best friend, he follows in Finny’s steps so that his personality clones to be like Finny’s. Finny exposes new experiences that provoke Gene’s development into adulthood. As Gene engages in new experiences, he soon realizes that he envies Finny’s abilities.