Eemerson states that,”envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide. A Separate Peace is a story by John Knowles,based in 1942. The novel is based on two friends Gene and Finny. Gene is very smart and gradually becomes jealous of Finny. A Separate Peace conveys how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected him, and his relationship with Finny. At the beginning of the story Gene is very envious of Finny. Gene quickly began to realize Finny’s ability to get good at everything. For example, “ I was beginning to see that phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him.”As time passes genes envy turns into an obsession, and he starts imitating Finny’s actions and do things that he wouldn’t normally do.Gene agrees to jump off the tree.A new side of Gene here is shown a more adventurous side that was drawn out by his envy towards finny. As Gene’s envy intensifies, their friendship becomes strained. Gene begins to see Finny as a threat to his own identity and begins to resent him. For example, I had never been jealous of him for a second. Now I was experiencing a new feeling, something like envy. When Finny falls from the tree Gene realizes the extent of his jealousy. Gene’s ignorance of his true feeling towards Finny and him not confronting those feelings led to the downfall of their friendship …show more content…
After returning to Devon 15 years later Gene is able to reflect on his actions and feelings towards Finny. “ I never killed anyone,” he said. Due to his return to Devon the overwhelming of memories and emotions allows him to come to this realization. In the end finding that peace gives him closure. For example,’’ We reminded them of what they are fighting for in the brotherhood of man. He realized the comparison between the soldiers and himself and his relationships and how he took them for granite.By returning to Devon Gene receives the clarity that he