Sometimes what begins as a close friendship can be poisoned. Insecurity and jealousy can cause betrayal of friendship. Just as Aesop once said “Betray, a friend, and you’ll often find you have ruined yourself” ( 26 Quotes about Fake Friends with Images). John Knowles’ A Separate Peace and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner highlight how jealousy and cowardice are toxic to friendship. However, both novels also show that atonement or lack thereof can lead to inner peace. The two protagonists Gene and Amir, allow the seemingly preferential treatment of their best friends to pollute their loyal friendships. Both Gene and Amir betray Finny and Hassan without meaning to hurt them intentionally. Both novels are set in a time of war, adding tension …show more content…
Finny does not have the will or work ethic to be an intelligent student like Gene is. His lack of work ethic is part of the reason why Gene becomes jealous of Finny because Finny is happy with not being a good student because he is a good athlete and has a charismatic attitude that makes him very likable. This helps emphasize Gene’s jealousy and insecurities. When Gene and Finny go to the beach, and Finny expresses that Gene is his best friend. This expression of friendship is too much for Gene. Finny tries to push Gene out of his comfort zone and be more independent than others, but Gene is too insecure with himself, and this builds his inner hatred and jealousy for Finny. Just like Gene and Finny are foils Hassan is a foil to Amir. Amir is a coward, and it shows when he first almost denies his friendship with Hassan.
“But he's not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course, I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, then why, when Baba's friends came to visit with their kids, didn't I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no one else was