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Past And Present: Consequences Of Gene Forrester's Actions

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Past and Present: Consequences of Gene Forrester’s Actions Past events play a crucial role in deciding what present actions a character will make. One work where past events characterize what characters do in the present is A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The novel begins with protagonist Gene Forrester returning to Devon Preparatory School. As Gene walks the Devon grounds, he begins to reminisce about the school year of 1943 and the lasting effect it has had on his life. In the summer session of 1943, Gene’s best friend Phineas fell out of a tree, shattering his leg and tragically ending his successful athletic reputation. Though the event happened to Phineas, Gene is no longer able to be at peace with the past, subsequently changing his personality and actions of the present. Prior to Phineas’ accident, he and Gene had become increasingly close. In this time, Gene became envious of Phineas, both of his carefree attitude and his extraordinary athletic ability. This is shown when Phineas beats one of Devon’s athletic records but does not tell anyone about it… Was he trying to impress me or something? Not …show more content…

Gene grows a resentment towards Phineas and makes him fall off a tree, crippling him. However, while trying to cope with what he did, Gene attempts to act like Phineas by putting on his clothing. The incident also changes his personality by the sudden lose of innocence. This can be seen both when Gene has to take responsibility for his actions and when visits the tree several years later. Both of these reflections allow Gene to come of age to realize that he is no longer innocent and he must find his place in the world. Gene’s relationship to the past makes him come to terms with his dark human nature and shapes his personality for the rest of his lives. The past will always shape how the present is

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I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that," (2.30. Knowles). He was referring to how Phineas never got in trouble. Gene thought his feeling towards Phineas were completely normal and they would go away over time. However, time

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The Two Rivers In a Separate Peace Novels have contrasting objects or places that help explain the meaning of the story. In “A Separate Peace,” the two rivers that surrounded Devon represented two worlds going on at the time. The Devon river, clear and clean, represented the school and the life of the students. The Naguamsett river on the other hand was dirty and nasty, this river represented the war happening at the time, which was World War II. The students at Devon would only use the Devon river, the reason behind this is that it was clean, omitting to use the disgusting Naguamsett river.

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Gene’s relationship with his “best friend” Phineas describes how the relationship resulted in the killing of Gene's enemy, his own youth, and innocence. Gene is plainly described in the novel as envious of Finny, he is also depicted as the position of much hatred and dismay by his peers. Therefore, the fact that Gene kills his own youth is likely considering Finny’s success, Gene’s jealousy towards

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” (370). John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is set during World War I at Devon School, a boarding school for boys. The book centers on Gene Forrester, a student at Devon, who could be described as an intelligent, but jealous, conformist. A Separate Peace illustrates Gene’s envy and imitation of his friend, Finny, and how it affects himself and his relationship with Finny, and also how Gene eventually finds peace.

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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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Without forgiveness, Gene would still be living in fear and hate, buried by his burden. Gene learns tremendously from his experiences. All his enemies were imagined, there was no need for “Maginot Lines” to protect himself from an enemy that didn’t exist. After Finny’s funeral Gene becomes “Phineas-filled” and his “war is over before it ever begins.” Gene realizes, “I was ready for the war, now that I no longer had any hatred to contribute to it.

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In the beginning of the novel, Gene returns to Devon to understand what happened in 1942. This is important because Gene seeks to console the guilt he has faced. Furthermore, Gene shows his shame after Finny was jounced off the tree. Remorse over Finny's injury ate Gene up, causing Gene to not participate in sports. Gene feels disgrace while in the infirmary thinking, "If Phineas had been sitting here in this pool of guilt...what would he have done?"

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“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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Guilt is a funny concept, that has a different affects on different people. Guilt can cause some to confess and it releases the burden, but for those who take long to confess, it can turn into a negative reaction that can cripple your emotions. A Separate Peace is set in a boarding school in New England. Gene, a main character, is an incisive introvert whose best friend, Phineas, is a handsome athlete. When an accident occurs over the Summer, that leaves Gene and Finny hurt in some way, what comes next could take a toll on their friendship.

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A loving friend turns murderer after his retched jealousness and overanalyzing pushes him to new lows. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the true character of Gene Forrester is shown as he narrates his point of view of the story. Gene Forrester is a relatable ever changing, humanistic, and someone who is always in contention. Although at points Gene seems mentally unstable, he is a round, dynamic character that adapts and is generally mentally sound. Gene being the narrator of his own story shows from his perspective just how he views people and their interactions.

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Gene coached Phineas to be better scholar in school and that he should take it seriously because if he wanted to go to the Olympics he would need some sort of education. While Gene trained him Phineas trained Gene to be a fit for any type of physical activity. I thought this was kind of neat on how they use their skills to help others this was a bit unusual for Gene to do something like this especially for Phineas when they both had downfalls in the

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In John Knowles’s novel A Separate Peace Identity is shown as what defines us and makes us be placed in other peoples perspectives. An author can use identity to place characters in the readers mind to portray them a certain way, just as John Knowles did in A Separate peace. An identity can be defined as who a person is inside and out.

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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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“The only person with whom you have to compare yourself is you in the past.” Sigmund Freud is considered one of the most influential psychologists in history, and many of his ideas and theories are continually changing how people and society view and perceive the world. One of his better-known ideas is that of the id, ego, and superego. These ideas can be applied to the characters in A Separate Peace, specifically Gene and Phineas. In addition, Gene utilizes many defense mechanisms, such as displacement and rationalization.

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A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a fictional book about Gene Forrester, a student at Devon Private Boarding School. This story takes place during the 1940s when World War II was becoming more and more a part of daily life at Devon. The war encroaches and finally dominates the lives of the boys at Devon. Starting with the boys shoveling snow off of the train tracks, then their friend, Leper, enlists, and finally troops get permanently stationed at Devon.

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