A Separate Peace Gene Character Analysis

Morality is pivotal to human-kind. Society determines what is “good” and “bad.” Humans evaluate if their actions are moral according to this rubric. A Separate Peace explores what can change one’s level of morality. Both characters exemplify immoral human characteristics to an extreme. In the novel, Gene is immoralized by envy, and Finny is immoralized by impudence.

Though Gene seems to be a relatable, flawed, character, he continually becomes less virtuous throughout the novel. One of the most notable downward spirals is when Gene erroneously convinces himself that Finny is envious of his academic standing. Gene begins to act on the belief that he and Finny are “even in enmity” (Knowles, p.53). Furthermore, Gene distorts past experiences

Finny flagrantly disrespects Gene’s feelings of guilt, Gene’s right to tell the truth, and his own honest virtues. After Gene admits his crime, Finny threatens to “hit” (Knowles, p.70) and then “kill” (Knowles, p.70) him. Due to this, Gene feels even more guilty than he did before; he thinks that telling Finny may have caused a “deeper injury” (Knowles, p.70) than the shattered leg. Partly because Finny is selfish, Gene suffers psychologically for the rest of his life. Moreover, during the winter session, Gene calls Finny; Finny wants to make sure that Gene has recovered from his bout of craziness. Gene is disingenuous. He confirms that it was a bout of craziness and that he has recovered from it. Finny has effectively lied to himself and has forced Gene to do the same. Finny seems to be the moral character, however, he possesses insolence that leads to immoral events and

The “tie incident” is an occasion in which Gene and Finny’s traits are concurrent. Finny’s blatant presumptuousness and cheekiness concerning Devon, the Headmaster, and rules is an understandable, small act. But, the fact that he has the audacity to make up a story about why he is wearing it proves that Finny is disrespectful beyond what some would consider ethical. Telling a lie to cover up the fact that Finny simply does not regard the school as worthy of esteem and getting away with it provokes enviousness in Gene. He becomes “unexpectedly excited” (Knowles, p.27) at the prospect that Finny might not get away with it this time. While this is a typical situation for realistic humans, it seems to be a turning point for Gene and Finny. From this point forward, they continue to