Cat's Eye Character Analysis

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light”- Helen Keller

Cat’s Eye is a narrative based on a woman that is going through friendships that shaped her identity. A Separate Peace was also a narrative book that is based on a boy that had a very strong friendship between men. How the main characters in each book are affected by their superiors, and how it shapes their character development. How each of the character’s personalities shaped their identities for the worse. The friendships that were made in both novels blur the identity of Elaine and Gene. Both books display the idea that your identity can be changed by a friendship.

Firstly, the main characters were affected by their superiors, and it also shapes

In Cat’s Eye, Elaine shows that “I see that there will be no end to imperfection, or to do things the wrong way. Even if you grow up, no matter how hard you scrub, whatever you do, there will always be some other stain or spot on your face or stupid act, somebody frowning.” It shows how Elaine figures that she has her imperfections on the inside and outside, and she cannot do anything about it but live it. It seems that it has shaped her personality in a way to stop caring about what she does with the other half of her life. Also, Elaine states that “Knowing too much about other people puts you in their power, they have a claim on you, you are forced to understand their reasons for doing things and then you are weakened.” The fact that she says this shows how her own personality shaped her identity and turned her into a control freak in a way for the worse. In A Separate Peace Gene talks about how, “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. […] I decided to put on his clothes. […] This gave me such intense relief […]. I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again (5.4-5).” It shows how much Gene has changed for the worse and that his identity has also changed. It additionally displays that Gene loses his guilt because he abandons his identity, at least momentarily, by "becoming" Phineas. In turn, shifting his identity into someone who he is not. Another instance is when Gene shows that, "You've been pretty lazy all along, haven't you? Yes, I guess I have been. You didn't even know anything about yourself. I don't guess I did, in a way (8.131-4).” With this intention, it displays how in order to learn more about himself, Gene has had to become like Finny – by becoming an athlete. This means not acting like himself and trying to be someone who he is not, but someone