Part of friendship consists of accepting a friend's shortcomings. This theme, generally associated with A Separate Peace, means that friends should embrace each other's imperfections. Some people seem perfect with no flaws at all while others seem hopelessly imperfect with many flaws, but the truth is everyone makes mistakes. Friends should accept each other's shortcomings because unrealistic expectations can damage a relationship. In A Separate Peace, both Finny and Gene had difficulty accepting a friend's shortcomings.
Finny refused to believe that Gene caused him to fall from the tree. Finny denied Gene's fault because it shattered the image of a perfect best friend, someone who was supposed to be there for him, not there to kill him. When Gene tried to confess, he remarked to himself, "It struck me then that I was injuring him again. It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before." Accepting a friend’s shortcomings can be painful, but it is a vital part of friendship. Finny struggled to accept the truth but when he finally did he allowed himself and Gene to move on. He forgave Gene and erased the guilt and shame plaguing
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Q had admired, or rather worshiped, his neighbor Margo since they were kids. When Margo disappeared, Q obsessively followed the clues she left about her destination. By the time Q found Margo, he had realized she was not the perfect person he had always imagined. He found that "On some fundamental level we find it difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same way that we are. We idealize them as gods or dismiss them as animals.” Finny idealized Gene as a god and could not accept his fault. Gene dismissed Leper as an animal and abandoned him. Part of friendship consists of accepting a friend’s shortcomings because everyone is human and falls