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A Separate Peace Rite Of Passage Analysis

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“Everything has to evolve or else it perishes” (Knowles 125). Leper says this in the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles. This novel about the rite of passage was set at the Devon School between 1942-1943. The character undergo a rite of passage that transition them from childhood to adulthood; however, not everyone succeeds in this journey. Three characters that struggle to complete their Rite of passage includes: Gene, Leper, and Finny. The boys discover that if they do not successfully evolve during their rite of passage, than they will perish in one way or another. Gene, the first to experience his loss of innocence, struggles to successfully complete his Rite of passage.The young Gene stands unconcerned, self-absorbed, by the tree that will test his true nature. Gene is insecure because he believes Finny is better than him. Since Finny makes Gene do things he doesn’t want to do he is resentful such as daring him to experience the world more directly, by breaking rules and creating new traditions. Gene is jealous of Finny; which shows his immaturity and leads up to the pinnacle of the novel. Due to Gene’s ego he gives into doing something that he will later regret, he jounces the limb the Finny was standing on. Growth can come only through conflict and struggle and therefore, Gene's sense of guilt, however much he hides it, represents his attempt to make things right. He gains the knowledge of evil in himself …show more content…

Gene evolves successfully because he killed the savage and evil within himself once Finny dies. Leper, emotionally unprepared for war, is traumatized by what he see’s at war and therefore, does not successfully complete his rite of passage. Even though everyone wants to be like Finny, his inability to live in a world of evil results in an unsuccessful findings of his rite of

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Although he lives, Gene is ultimately the one truly destroyed by his envy. Gene has many theories that Finny is trying to trick or misguide him, sending him into a jealous rage. Thinking Finny was against him, Gene started to uncover Finny’s real intentions. ”That way he, the great athlete, would be ahead of me. It

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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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He is basically, through rhetorical questions, saying that he does not want to do what Finny does, but it’s like he cannot help it. This is affecting who Gene is as a person because he is not thinking for himself. Is Gene really even himself if Finny is doing the thinking for him? If he is not thinking for himself, he is not being true to himself. Another way that Gene is affected is that he allows his imitation of Finny get in the way of his schooling.

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The whole time, Gene thought he had a conflict with Finny, but it was fictitious. In reality, Finny never wanted any quarrel with Gene, and Gene’s true conflict was in fact with himself. Now, Gene has to live with the internal conflict of guilt for hurting his innocent, best

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In other words, for a brief moment, Gene felt relief from his guilt and loses his identity. He was physically trying to become Finny by trying to look like him. Another aspect that effects finding Gene’s identity

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He shows how man can destroy, as in war, and that man must remove hate in order to achieve a “separate peace.” Finny sacrifices himself so Gene doesn’t end up like Leper, the outcast of society. Leper, a “naturalist,” represents the fragile, innocent people who hide from the horrors of life until one day they “meet it, the horrors face to face, just as (they) had always feared, and so give up the struggle completely” (196). Leper comes to one realization; people must evolve or perish. Gene, unlike Finny and Leper, can evolve.

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Gene sees Finny as his enemy, and instinctively believes he and Finny are competitors. As he himself is corrupt, he is able to see the wickedness of the

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“Our minds are a battle ground between good and bad ideas; we are whatever side wins the battle” Bangambiki Habyarimana, The Great Pearl of Wisdom. The struggle between good and evil is found universally. In the novel A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester struggles between his own inner good and evil. Gene's actions often reflect his feelings, leading him to trouble, giving the illusion that Gene is filled with more evil than good. However, Gene's goodness can be found even through dark times.

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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.

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Dismissive and harmful effects of guilt are all around Gene. These effects caused Gene to lose confidence, and lose his ability to grow as a person. Furthermore, the theme guilt is crippling is shown throughout the entirety of the novel. This is mainly shown when Gene feels guilty about Finny, since Gene broke his leg. The first time Gene feels guilty about what he did is when Phineas first put in the hospital after Gene jounced the limb.

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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.

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Gene starts to become jealous of Finny’s traits. Gene starts questioning Finny’s motives to always push him well beyond the rules and his personal boundaries. Gene starts to take out his emotions and anger on Finny. Gene did not want Finny to realize that Gene was jealous of Finney’s ability to be free, have lots of fun and ignore the school rules. Due to Gene’s jealousy and lack of trust towards Finny, and Finny’s lack of respect for Gene, their friendship starts to go downhill quick.

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Finny used to ask Gene to go and do other things instead of studying. Gene normally did what Finny asked. Gene decided that Finny was trying to hurt him when they story states, “Suddenly he turned his fire against me, he betrayed several of his other friends,” and he was doing things on his own (102). The second stage of Finny and Gene’s friendship is betrayal and guilt.

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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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