Gene's Guilt In John Knowles A Separate Peace

In chapter seven of John Knowles novel, A separate Peace, readers finally see the story’s main protagonist, Gene Forrester, confronted about what his intentions actually were when he chose Phineas as his roommate, and later what his role actually was in the tree accident that led Finny to break his leg. Gene’s initial reaction was to laugh it off, but he later became defensive around others when the conversation transitioned into the “butt room.” Gene’s reactions show the effects of his guilt finally getting to him, and how it’s beginning to affect him in ways he never expected. After Brinker jokes with Gene about him “getting rid” of Finny, Gene finds himself suddenly overtaken with a feeling of guilt. He initially tries to laugh it off, and jokingly confesses to what happened, but he later realizes the magnitude of his statement and quickly tries to change the subject. He asks Brinker to go for a smoke in the “Butt Room,” but Gene was not expecting what happened next. After Brinker tells everyone in the smoke room that he’s brought “his prisoner down in the dungeon to confess to his crimes” everyone soon joins in. Gene really doesn’t know how to react. He “confesses” but over exaggerates the details of what happens. Gene tries to take the truth out of the accusations and make them so outrageous that they seem obviously unrealistic. This is a defense mechanism for Gene. If he can make the accident look like it was impossible for him to commit then all the attention would shift

Gene Forrester is becoming older and facing real world life situations. His maturity and his rationale are both based on the situations that he has endured. Like everyone else that has ever lived or existed, Gene changes due to the events that have happened to him, and how he chooses to react to them will determine the person he