A Separate Peace Gene And Finny Character Analysis

“Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” (Emerson 138). In John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace,” Gene becomes so envious of his friend Finny that he starts to act like him; he was jealous of Finny’s capability of getting away with anything, and he also feels bitter because he sees Finny as being better than himself. Although it started as common friendship envy, it grew into a terrible animosity damaging the relationship between these two characters. For starters, Gene and Finny’s friendship is an uncommon one. They are somehow the opposite of each other: Gene is a smart, introverted guy while Finny is the athletic, extroverted one. Finny has such persuasion that can get anyone to believe him and getting away with troubles. This, of

He explained, “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” (Knowles 25). Not only is he admitting to the bitterness toward his friend, but he is also being ignorant for not thinking that it is wrong. This “bitterness” will soon turned into something as bad as hostility later on. For instance, when Finny uses his tie for a belt, Gene starts to feel happy because he thinks that there is no way he will “get away with it” this time. However, Finny does get away with it, and Gene confesses to feel a little stab of disappointment (Knowles 28). Because Gene is so envious of Finny, he starts to act like him. A great example of this is when the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session is created by Finny. Gene starts to attend to every meeting because “otherwise I would have lost face with Phineas, and that would have been unthinkable” (Knowles 34). Here, it is evident that Gene lives on Finny’s approval. He is always trying to please him because he sees him as someone greater than himself. Even when he has to study for French, he still goes to the meeting even

He says, “ Never mind my studying” (Knowles 59). Gene is basically imitating his friend Phineas because he sees him as someone superior. Like Emerson said in “Self-reliance,” “imitation is suicide.” Gene is killing his own self trying to be someone he is not. In actuality, he is imitating Finny because he is envious. And the hostility keeps on growing. Significantly, after Finny breaks the swimming record and decides not to tell anyone. Gene feels that Finny is just trying to impress him, and to no one’s surprise, he exclaims, “you did hate him for breaking that school record, but so what?” (Knowles 53). He is being so blinded by jealousy that he cannot see Finny’s true colors. It is he who is becoming ignorant for not actually valuing their friendship. As a consequence, their friendship will slowly start to