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Gene Forrester's Identity In John Knowles A Separate Peace

344 Words2 Pages
Due to Gene Forrester's insecurity with his identity, John Knowles portrays him as conforming, afraid, and deceptive in the novel, A Separate Peace. During dinner at the Lepelliers, Gene analyzes Mrs. Lepellier's opinion of him, assuming that she thinks “'He's a good boy underneath'... 'a terrible temper, no self-control, but he's sorry, and he is a good boy underneath'” while Gene states that “Leper was closer to the truth”, with Leper accusing Gene of savagery (137). To obscure his true self, Gene provides a distorted identity towards others because he knows of the wrongdoings which negatively characterize him. By adding his commentary, Gene gives the reader the insight that he knows of his facade, and that he does nothing to persuade others
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342 Words | 2 Pages

A Separate Peace Gene and Finny are Psychological aspects of the same person. Because some things gene says make it seem like they are the same person. Gene and Finny are the same person just have different sides of that one person. Gene is the sarcastic, anxious, and jealous side of him, and Finny is the fun, loving, peaceful, energetic, brave side. Then Leper could be the crazy psycho path side of Gene after he goes to war.

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Guilt can be defined as feeling responsibility or remorse of one's offence or wrong. Gene Forrester is a prime example thaguilt is a theme prevalent in A Separate ace. The novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles is about Gene Forrester, a lonely intellectual, and his struggle against his own guilt of breaking his friens leg and running his future. His t is shown when he feels obligated to become what Phineas could now not be and when he postpones his own desires for the desires of Fin Obviously, Gene’s actions towards Finny as left him with much guilt.

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340 Words | 2 Pages

A person’s coming of age journey involves growing despite the internal and external impediments, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Cullen Thomas’ prison experience written by himself in Brother One Cell, as well as “Why Do Some Poor Kids Thrive?” an article by Alana Semuels about poverty-stricken children, all touch on overcoming struggles and growing into an adult from that. Gene Forrester from A Separate Peace is a young high schooler at a fictional school called Devon. Gene does not have many external struggles, but rather, he creates hindrances for himself most of which include his close friend Phineas. Gene’s coming of age is him overcoming this internal battle he created inside of himself with Finny and, dealing with the guilt of causing

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130 Words | 1 Pages

The feeling of neglect, presses like a dagger to Leper. He wishes for people to notice him and appreciate him. Moreover he wants to be closer to Gene and be his best friend. However, Finny is Gene’s best friend, and so he harbors an ounce of envy towards Finny. All the while, he joins the army, yet it cuts a deep wound into him, and he loses his mind, and so he escapes.

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692 Words | 3 Pages

The author, John Knowles, in the novel, “A Separate Peace”, conveys the lesson of friendship, or rather the lack of, with his use of diction. The strategy in which the author phrased certain sections of dialogue between Finny and Gene is there to show that Finny cares for Gene despite Gene’s obvious discontent. The friendship is a one-way street, and the author uses diction to represent this unbalance in the relationship, leading to friendship being a key theme throughout the book. There exist many examples of this diction throughout the novel, one of these is during their illegal beach trip. “I hope you’re having a pretty good time here.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.

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700 Words | 3 Pages

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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165 Words | 1 Pages

In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the themes insecurity and identity were present throughout the novel. To begin, the protagonist Gene Forrester revealed his insecurities toward the foundation of his relationship with his best friend, Finny. He thought Finny was deliberately making games and wanting to share everything with him as a disguise to destroy his studies, and to be the superior one in the relationship. ( Page 45) After his epiphany, Gene tried harder to become better than Finny, and ultimately became one with Finny. After Finny fell out of the tree, Gene decided to try on the infamous pink shirt.

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2132 Words | 9 Pages

Gene Forester, the main protagonist, and narrator of the book has tendencies and character traits that without deeper exploration and analysis could be deduced that he is indeed a psychopath. In the story, Gene at first seems to be a quiet and smart student who schools at a school in New Hampshire called Devon school. He, however, appears to have his insecurities as the story progresses and even suffers from self-consciousness. Gene is also very uncertain of himself, and in a way, he suffers from an identity crisis. Jealousy is a standout trait of Gene that is evident in the story.

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1239 Words | 5 Pages

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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1911 Words | 8 Pages

In John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, three main characters each suggest in their actions a different way to grow and develop into a more mature person and their growth manifests good or bad given the circumstances. Gene, Leper, and Phineas all mature or develop in different ways despite being close, as their lives intertwine they all have personal struggles to overcome and learn from Gene Forrester is one of John Knowles’ extremely complex characters. Gene is described as an intellectual, extremely gifted in academics. Gene may have the brains but this does not stop him from comparing himself to his best friend’s intellectually savvy personality and natural athletic ability. As Gene reflects on the summer of 1942 he states his distaste with his younger self’s affinity for sarcasm and

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506 Words | 3 Pages

“Our minds are a battle ground between good and bad ideas; we are whatever side wins the battle” Bangambiki Habyarimana, The Great Pearl of Wisdom. The struggle between good and evil is found universally. In the novel A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester struggles between his own inner good and evil. Gene's actions often reflect his feelings, leading him to trouble, giving the illusion that Gene is filled with more evil than good. However, Gene's goodness can be found even through dark times.

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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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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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522 Words | 3 Pages

On page 201-202 of A Separate Peace Gene narrates “I myself had often been happy at Devon, but such times it seemed to me that afternoon were over now.” This quote shows how Gene was changed from a carefree student to a worried soon-to-be solider. The troops only add to the feelings of sadness because of Finny's death since Gene sees what the future holds. Overall, John Knowles’ fictional book A Separate Peace has many themes.

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