Theme Of Competition In A Separate Piece By John Knowles

Competition plays principal role in A Separate Piece by John Knowles, especially between the two main characters Gene and Finny. In the novel, there are many situations where Gene compares to Finny and expresses how he would like to be him in some situations. Throughout the first couple chapters, it is clear that, at times, Gene envies Phineas for the fact that he is courageous, charming, and athletic. A phenomenal example of competition in A Separate Piece is when the two main characters and a couple of their friends visited a tree next to a body of water. The idea that they should jump off of the tree into the body of water adjacent to the three. First, Finny jumped without hesitation, then Gene was pressured into jumping with hesitation. After, one of their friends comments, “I think that was better than Finny’s” (Knowles 17).

Yet another example of competition is when Finny gets in trouble in two different situations. After a little bit of explaining and discussion, Finny was able to get himself out of trouble without punishment. When Gene witnesses this occur he thinks to himself, “He had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment” (Knowles 28). He continous to think about why Finny got away with what he got away with, stops wishing the outcome was different and is grateful that he is his friend. Gene acknowledging that he is grateful to have Finny as his friend is important because it shows how the competition between the two friends is so far healthy