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A Separate Peace Phineas Character Traits

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A Separate Peace is a novel, written by John Knowles, about a very quiet and cautious boy named Gene and his persuasive and daring friend, Phineas. It takes place at the Devon School during World War II. The story is told by Gene in a flashback, after he returns to the school 15 years later. Phineas is very easy going. He is unpredictable and lives in the moment. He doesn’t always consider the consequence of things. Even when he does things that could get him in trouble, he is able to talk himself out of it. For example, when Finny explained to Mr. Prud’homme why they missed a meal, he was able to get them out of trouble. He explained why they had jumped out the tree only seniors jump from, “We had to do that, naturally, because we’re all …show more content…

He is also able to persuade people very easily. He was able to convince Gene to jump out of the tree very easily. I think people follow Finny. He is a natural leader. He doesn’t think much of school either. He didn’t realize that Gene needed to study to get good grades. Phineas is impulsive, he doesn’t always use his brain. Three traits I would use to describe Phineas are unpredictable, persuasive, and a leader. Gene is a follower. He never really speaks out on what he wants to do. He tends to just follow Phineas. Sometimes he doesn’t like the risky situations Phineas puts him in. For example when Gene was about to jump from the tree, he started to have second thoughts. “What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold on me?. Gene didn’t really want to jump from the tree. He would've preferred to stay safe. Gene liked to focus on his school work. When he realized Phineas was keeping him from studying, he got upset. “Then a second realization broke as clearly and bleakly as dawn at the beach. Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explains blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that explained his insistence that I share all his diversions.” I think Gene was beginning to overthink everything. He found himself getting jealous of Phineas so he needed a reason to be upset with him. Three traits I would use to describe Gene

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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.

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Gene’s relationship with his “best friend” Phineas describes how the relationship resulted in the killing of Gene's enemy, his own youth, and innocence. Gene is plainly described in the novel as envious of Finny, he is also depicted as the position of much hatred and dismay by his peers. Therefore, the fact that Gene kills his own youth is likely considering Finny’s success, Gene’s jealousy towards

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Gene Forrester’s Character Development The quote “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide,” (Emerson 370) accurately describes Gene Forrester from “A Separate Peace”. John Knowles is the author of “A Separate Peace” and it is set in New Hampshire at Devon High. Gene Forrester is not your normal protagonist; he thinks his best friend Phineas is “out to get him” and he eventually grows to envy him. He used to conform to Finny in the beginning, but he later grows into his own character.

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“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide” (Emerson). The character Gene learns of this not until after many trials and a great tragedy. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the idea of self-reliance is greatly stressed. The novel A Separate Peace conveys how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him, how Gene’s envy and imitation affect their relationship with Finny, and Gene’s achievement of peace. The envy towards and imitation of Funny greatly affect Gene.

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Gene was struggling with the concept of jealousy all throughout the novel. At first Gene thought that Finny was jealous of Gene, only to come and find out that Finny was never jealous. This realization made Gene even angrier than before. This anger was the cause of Finny’s fall. Gene was so angry with Finny, that when they were up in the tree

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To start, Gene’s envy and imitation of Phineas affect him in many different ways. One example of this is when Gene decides to play sports for Finny because Finny told him to. After this, Gene explains that he “lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring

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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).

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Adam and Eve had a perfect Garden of Eden, until Eve ate the apple and contaminated the garden. In being tricked by the snake, Eve betrayed God’s word. Mankind has often betrayed others because of the darkness in their heart. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses Phineas as a sacrificial lamb to portray Gene’s savage side and demonstrate that peace can never be achieved at a worldwide level until man accepts the darkness in his own heart.

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In Gene’s case, disloyalty and cowardice appears through his metaphorical bad heart. Gene’s insecurities got in the way of his friendship with Phineas. He was jealous that Finny could never get in trouble, and that he appeared to be perfect in almost every way. When Gene began to believe that Phineas wanted to surpass him academically, he felt threatened. This mixed with his jealousy, and caused him to impulsively shake the tree limb that Phineas was standing on, making him fall and shatter his leg.

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In the beginning of the novel, Gene returns to Devon to understand what happened in 1942. This is important because Gene seeks to console the guilt he has faced. Furthermore, Gene shows his shame after Finny was jounced off the tree. Remorse over Finny's injury ate Gene up, causing Gene to not participate in sports. Gene feels disgrace while in the infirmary thinking, "If Phineas had been sitting here in this pool of guilt...what would he have done?"

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And is trying to stop him from looking good. Gene starts to compete towards Finny but silently. As he starts to think Finny is holding him back from being smart. He sets a goal to be valedictorian, and starts to get violent with Finny. For example, “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything.

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One way Gene’s jealousy and imitation is an effect on his relationship with Finny is that it caused lots of jealousy towards Finny because of his abilities, appearance, and actions. An example of this is when Gene stated “He had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment. That was because I just wanted to see some more excitement; that must have been it. " (Knowles).

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Finny and Gene are opposites in the way their brain works and the way they look but are also opposites in their respect towards authority figures. During the novel, Gene attempts to pay attention to his activities and not make any scenes, whereas, Finny is the polar opposite. Phineas pulls the attention to himself every chance he can find. He assumes he can avoid the consequences by using his own play on words to connect with the acts he does when describing them to the Headmasters. “‘Well, in case suitors begin clamoring at the door, you can tell them I’m wearing this as an emblem.’

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Charles Kuralt once said, “ The love of family and the admirations of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” This quote shows how jealousy and popularity aren’t as important as relationships in your life. In the book, A Separate Peace, Gene has different priorities than relationships. Gene, a young boy who attends Devon boarding school, goes through many different trials along his grade school journey. He faces problems with friends and school life during the time of World War two and the draft being in full swing.

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On the other hand, Gene has a strong superego, meaning that his moral and ethical views are more important to him. Furthermore, he always has the push to do the right thing and especially in terms of his academics such as his determination to be head of the class. Also, the superego's goal is “to suppress entirely any urges or desires of the id that are considered wrong or socially unacceptable” (What is the superego?) This pertains to Phineas and Gene because Gene is always trying to get Phineas to do the right thing. For example, when Phineas proposes going to the beach, Gene somewhat questions the idea because he understands the consequences: “Going there risked expulsion, destroying the studying I was going to do for an

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