A Separate Peace Relationship Between Gene And Finny

According to Emerson, "envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide" (370). John Knowles' novel, A Separate Peace, is set in an all-boys boarding school, where Gene Forrester, a smart, conforming, 16-year-old boy, is the main character. The book illustrates how Gene's envy and imitation of his friend Finny affect him, his relationship with Finny, and his achievement of peace.
Gene's envy and imitation of Finny have a detrimental effect on him. He prioritizes imitating Finny to the point where he denies himself free will. The text states, "We're off pal," Finny would call out, "and acting against every instinct of my nature, I went without a thought of protest" (Knowles 34). When faced with the dilemma of following what Finny says or following his

Gene's envy causes him to bear hatred towards Finny. He starts looking for imperfections in him and eventually creates one. In the story, Gene says, "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained Blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that explained his insistence that I share his diversions" (Knowles 53). Gene was so envious that he couldn't conceive the idea that Finny could be pure. As a result, he forms a false narrative in which Finny has malicious intent, which is detrimental to their relationship. Additionally, Gene realizes that his connection to Phineas is due to envy and imitation, which means that in his maturity, they were not truly friends. Alton states, "However, as Gene matures, he starts to develop his own identity. He recognizes his attraction to deadly things and, more significantly, he writes a narrative about his relationship with Phineas, revealing the flaws in his own character which led to Phineas's death" (Alton). In his mature state, Gene realizes his flawed relationship with Phineas, meaning that they were not really friends, and it was more of an envious imitation. Their friendship was built on envy and imitation, which is why it was negatively affected. This realization marks the beginning of Gene's achievement of

After Phineas's death, Gene writes the narrative with a more mature tone. Alton stated, "Gene's narrative provides us with one valuable insight into the effects of humanities unthinking tendencies" (Alton). It could be argued that his achievement of peace enabled him to write the narrative. The novel is titled A Separate Peace, with the word "peace" in the title suggesting that he has achieved peace. As the story concludes, Gene realizes the nature of humanity. Alton stated, "He reaches this atmosphere only after separating himself from Phineas and finding his own identity. This process is ongoing and entails the acknowledgement that the real enemy is within himself and, indeed, within each of us: we're all liable to corruption from within by our own envy, anger, and fear” (Alton). Gene has reached a resolution to his struggle between himself and his envy, and made a claim based on that. This could be seen as him coming to peace and forming a conclusion. We notice Gene coming to his senses near the end of the book, and that is due to his achievement of