In the Separate Peace, one of the main characters, Finny says, “And at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal.” “he hesitated and then added,” “Which is what you are, and there was silence on his dune” (Knowles 48). This quote shows the theme of the works of friendship presented throughout this novel. This is important because one of the biggest themes in this book is friendship and jealousy in friendship. Gene shows these themes really well. I think a lot of teens could relate to how Gene feels, in the sense that he doesn’t really know how he feels about Finny being his best friend, and being envious of him at the same time. In this novel, one of the main characters, Gene Forrester was a very jealous friend, and person …show more content…
Before he tried and confess to Finny he asks himself what would Finny do in my situation, “If Phineas had been sitting in this pool of guilt, how would he have felt, what would he have done? He would have told me the truth” (Knowles 66). This was very helpful for Gene in order for him to confess to Finny. But, when he confessed to Finny he wouldn’t believe him. “I was thinking about you and the accident because I caused it,” “What do you mean you caused it?” “I jounced the limb. I caused it” “Of course you didn’t” “Yes, I did! I did!” “Of course, you didn’t.” “You damn fool. Sit down, you damn fool!” (Knowles 69-70) This shows the back and fourth between Gene and Finny, with Gene trying to tell him and convince him that he caused the accident, and Finny denying it and telling him to shut up. Finny wants to believe that Gene would never hurt a soul intentionally. Finny has shown over and over again by denying Gene telling him that it was his fault that he wants to believe that Gene is a genuine