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Analysis Of Gene And Phineas 'Denial In John Knowles' A Separate Peace

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Author Simon Mawer once said, “The speed of the human mind is remarkable. So is its inability to face the obvious.” The words of this well-renowned author connect to John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace. Main characters Gene Forrester and Phineas [also known as Finny] were both high school students at the Devon school in Massachusetts that struggled to live with their everyday choices and the repercussions they produced. Jealousy and fear are but few examples of the truths Gene and Phineas struggle to accept. Unable to accept these truths, Gene and Finny both suffer from a psychological term known as denial. Denial is one of the brain's defense mechanisms that protects one from stressful memory. Because of this, neither of them are able to …show more content…

In celebration of the first allied bombing of central Europe, Finny wore a pink shirt and a school tie as a belt. Mr. Patch-Withers entered the conversion on the bombing and his wife noticed the tie belt. This was seen as disrespect of the school. Gene was waiting for Finny to get in so much trouble, so his jealousy could be put at ease. However, as a good conversationalist, Finny once again talks his way out of trouble by making Mr. Patch-Withers laugh. Engulfed by more denial Gene plays off his jealousy: “[Gene and Finny] left the party, both of us feeling fine. I laughed along with Finny, my best friend, and also unique, able to get away with anything at all… He got away with everything because he was an extraordinary kind of person” (Knowles, 28). Gene is dealing with the denial of fact again. As said in Mr. Hogan’s denial worksheet, “Someone who is in denial... [will go along] to avoid facts they think may be painful to themselves or others.” Gene who was waiting for Finny to get in deep trouble had his mind set on getting Finny screwed over. But Finny was able to get away again, forcing Gene to play along as a good friend. It is Gene’s denial of jealousy that forces further to further dislike Finny, and compromise the

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In chapter seven of John Knowles novel, A separate Peace, readers finally see the story’s main protagonist, Gene Forrester, confronted about what his intentions actually were when he chose Phineas as his roommate, and later what his role actually was in the tree accident that led Finny to break his leg. Gene’s initial reaction was to laugh it off, but he later became defensive around others when the conversation transitioned into the “butt room.” Gene’s reactions show the effects of his guilt finally getting to him, and how it’s beginning to affect him in ways he never expected. After Brinker jokes with Gene about him “getting rid” of Finny, Gene finds himself suddenly overtaken with a feeling of guilt.

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In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the universality of jealousy and envy to develop a theme based upon man’s inhumanity to man. Fifteen years after attending Devon, an elite military preparatory school located in New Hampshire, the narrator, Gene Forrester, returned to reflect upon how fearful he was during the time he spent training and studying for World War II. He then decides to visit the places or symbols on the campus that were closely associated with his fear; a marble staircase and a tree placed near the bank of the river. As Gene visits these key symbols of fear, he flashes back upon his time at Devon. He remembers his best friend, Phineas or Finny, as a very superior athlete and charming young man.

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A Separate Peace, Unit Test Hamza Eldohiri The story “A Separate Peace”, written by John Knowles, was written at the time and takes place during World War II when battles and conflicts amongst nations were evident. Each nation involved struggled and fought their hardest in order to satisfy the good of their nation. Not only is the setting in the story taking place during this time of quarrel, the story also demonstrates areas of self-conflict and an internal battle throughout. The characters in “A Separate Peace”, are described as experiencing this self-conflicting, internal battle. Gene (also the narrator) is specifically depicted as he goes through his battle in life.

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Gene allows his opinion to interfere with the truth. According to Honesty and Not Telling The Truth “it is sometimes difficult to tell the truth” (Monkeyshines on Health and Science 17). Gene was so hooked on the fact that Finny was jealous of him that he told the reader but was not able to prove

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In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester inadvertently causes the death of his best friend, Finny, a tragedy which results in his premature metamorphosis from an envious and insecure teenager into a man who loves himself and therefore others. At the beginning of the novel, during the summer session at Devon School, Gene describes his feelings about Finny’s evading disciplinary action for using a tie as a belt, a dress code violation: “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 28). Gene is tired of Finny’s rule-breaking and is jealous of Finny’s powers of persuasion.

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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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Gene had felt envious of Finny’s charm and talent. Gene told Finny what he had done and Finny wouldn’t allow it. “Of course, you didn’t.” “Of course you didn’t do it. You damn fool.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” (370). John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is set during World War I at Devon School, a boarding school for boys. The book centers on Gene Forrester, a student at Devon, who could be described as an intelligent, but jealous, conformist. A Separate Peace illustrates Gene’s envy and imitation of his friend, Finny, and how it affects himself and his relationship with Finny, and also how Gene eventually finds peace.

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Friendship A Separate Peace has a very unique description of friendship. Throughout the book, Gene is jealous of Finny’s looks and what he is able to do. Gene has a lot of ambivalent feelings toward Finny. He wants to be Finny, but at the same time he is jealous of him.

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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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”(174-175) Gene is so consumed by guilt that he is thinking about everything he does and how that could indicate whether or not he's guilty. This confirms how the guilt is negatively affecting him by causing him to lose his

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Gene suspected Finny of trying to distract him from his precious studies. Finny, a reckless dare devil, persuades Gene to join him while making a risky jump off a decrepit tree into a river. Soon enough, more boys join in and this routine turns into a club known

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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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A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a fictional book about Gene Forrester, a student at Devon Private Boarding School. This story takes place during the 1940s when World War II was becoming more and more a part of daily life at Devon. The war encroaches and finally dominates the lives of the boys at Devon. Starting with the boys shoveling snow off of the train tracks, then their friend, Leper, enlists, and finally troops get permanently stationed at Devon.

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