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Essay On 'A Separate Peace By John Knowles' Thought Over Truth

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Thought Over Truth How do you know the whole story if you were only told from one perspective? A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles told during World War II, from the perspective of Gene Forrester, an intelligent, but not athletic student. Gene tells his memory of his senior year at Devon School, a school which only boys attend, but is his memory the whole truth? Gene has shown us that he is misleading and biased. He has failed to tell the reader the important details that would make a difference in the novel. To start off, Gene explains to the reader what happened at the time when Finny lost his balance on the tree and fell and shattered his leg. He explains that “[he] took a step toward him, and then [bent his knees] and [he] jounced the limb” (Knowles 59-60). According to Witness For the Defense: The Accused, the Eyewitness, and the Expert Who Puts Memory On Trial, “everything we learn is permanently stored in the mind, although sometimes particular details are not accessible” (Loftus and Ketcham 12). Gene fails to tell the reader his thoughts as he took the jump from the tree. He may not remember what he was thinking during the incident but the reader knows that Gene is …show more content…

Gene states “but what did go on in his mind? If I was the head of the class and won that prize, then we would be even…” (Knowles 52). Finny tells Gene that he does not need to be the head of the class in order to graduate. This makes Gene think that Finny doesn’t want him to be head of the class because that would make him better. 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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468 Words | 2 Pages

That something deep down, some deep feeling made him do it, made him jounce the limb. Finny denies that Gene would ever do such a thing. Gene persistently tells him the truth which angers Finny and calls Gene a “damn fool”, still denying that it was his fault. Gene admits he jounced the limb which caused Finny to fall, and therefore, he blames himself for Finny's

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

I think waves of guilt washed over Gene and gave him a deep sense of how he messed up Finny and how badly it affected him. When the mention of Leper comes in Gene rightfully panics, worry that they will believe him, but tries to tell himself that no one would believe a crazy person like Leper. Even thought it never does, Gene gets scared that they will eventually come to the conclusion that it was all his fault and "prosecute" him. The trial reminded Finny about the accident and its impossiblity.

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

This also shows that Gene isn 't good at telling people exactly what he wants to do and this doesn 't help him later on. We see that one of Gene’s struggles is to do what other people want and not what he does but when Gene does do what he wants to do then it doesn 't end well, while Finny on the other hand says exactly what he wants to say. An example of Finny’s weakness is, Finny has certain moralities that he lives by and his weakness is that he would never believe that one of his best friend’s broke one of his morals, we see this when Gene and Finny are talking they say, “‘I jounced the limb. I caused it’

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584 Words | 3 Pages

When Gene admits to making Finny fall off the tree and shatter his leg it causes conflict. “”Of course you didn’t do it. You damn fool. Sit down, you damn fool.” “Of course I did!””

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Creating these fake enemies affected his life throughout the story in a bad way. It caused him to live a life where he won’t accept reality. In the very end of chapter four you can tell Gene has developed hatred towards Finny. Gene believed that Finny was a rival towards him, Gene thinks he is not his friend. When Finny took

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822 Words | 4 Pages

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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1372 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout this novel, all of Gene’s emotions have led to him having an unhealthy relationship with his self identity and conflicts with other people in the book. Gene is starting to grow even more envious of Finny. He soon realizes that Finny is getting away with a lot of things that most others can not; “He has 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).

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1701 Words | 7 Pages

Gene’s survival was dependent on Finny’s death. When Gene jounces the limb he shatters Finny’s leg, as well as his heart. Finny knows that Gene purposely caused his fall, but can’t let his “best pal” be exposed. Finny will do anything to save Gene from Leprosy. Finny realizes that Gene “just didn’t know” what he had done, and forgives his sin, which saves Gene.

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741 Words | 3 Pages

“Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time of school; I killed my enemy there” (Knowles, 204). A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, was taken place at Devon High in the mid 1940’s, in the New England area during WWII. The main character, Gene, is a very smart, but envious and imitative kid that returns back to his school later in life to find peace within himself and past conflicts. Gene’s envious and imitative actions have had many affects within himself, others, and his future, but has found peace throughout everything. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him a lot throughout the novel.

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623 Words | 3 Pages

Once the doctor came out and explain Finny's condition to Gene, he says Finny wants to talk to Gene. Gene then thinks, “Finny would say nothing behind my back, he would accuse me face to face.” (64) Gene knew that Finny would be mad at him after the tree incident. He expected this because he knew that it was true what he did. Gene doesn't doubt that Finny

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1268 Words | 6 Pages

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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769 Words | 4 Pages

A loving friend turns murderer after his retched jealousness and overanalyzing pushes him to new lows. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the true character of Gene Forrester is shown as he narrates his point of view of the story. Gene Forrester is a relatable ever changing, humanistic, and someone who is always in contention. Although at points Gene seems mentally unstable, he is a round, dynamic character that adapts and is generally mentally sound. Gene being the narrator of his own story shows from his perspective just how he views people and their interactions.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Since Gene was the one to jounce the limb of the tree and put Finny off balance he takes the responsibility for the accident. This proves that gene has the identity for being the worrier and the responsible one. Each time something bad happens Gene feels like he is responsible and doesn't want anyone to know that he is. Since he is known to be the nerd he doesn't want his identity to his friends to become worse.

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786 Words | 4 Pages

War: Its Effects, and Disguises Every person can be a veteran of war at times, even if it is in personal battles rather than literal war. This is the case for the Gene as well as Finny in John Knowles 's A Separate Peace. The significance of the contrast of internal conflict with external conflict highlights Gene 's multiple conflicts with himself as well as Finny, building internal and external conflict through both characters. Ultimately, Gene becomes a veteran in the literal and figurative sense of war, regardless of uniform. Gene 's victory in this war with himself portrays how war can prevail in and out of uniform.

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1024 Words | 5 Pages

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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