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What Are The Similarities Between Gene Forrester And Phineas

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In A Separate Peace By John Knowles Gene Forrester and Phineas are best friends and attended Devon Boarding School. They are introduced as Gene being shy and keeping to himself as well as more brilliant than anything, Phineas (Finny) is known as outgoing, kind, and very athletic. Even though they have entirely different personalities they have been best friends since their start at Devon. Even though I believe I relate to both of them in many ways, I relate the most to Finny because of how understanding and down-to-earth, he is as well as energetic. Their friendship is very different but always works out in the end. There are many scenes in this book that shows Finny having confidence and having fun instead of worrying about grades or conflicts. …show more content…

He knows what Gene is comfortable with and knows they are nothing alike but he doesn’t see that as a reason to not hang out and do certain things. At the same tree where the SS meetings were held, Finny fell out and broke his leg. The truth was, Gene was behind him and got upset about the friendship from long term problems and jumped the limb which caused Finny to lose his balance and fall. After he was in a cast and healing, the secret was killing Gene. He went to the infirmary to tell him the truth but it didn’t really go as planned. Gene had felt envious of Finny’s charm and talent. Gene told Finny what he had done and Finny wouldn’t allow it. “Of course, you didn’t.” “Of course you didn’t do it. You damn fool. Sit down. You damn fool.” (Knowles 62). Finny knows deep down that it was the truth, but he couldn’t stand conflict in the friendship; he shuts it down and convinces Gene that it’s fine, and forgives him quickly. Even though this is a life-altering event he would rather do the right thing and be civil than have this argument. He almost seems uncomfortable with conflict and violence and that is shown later in the book when talking about the war going on,

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789 Words | 4 Pages

Maybe there was once a time when Gene was Finny’s genuine friend, but at some point, a seed of doubt plants itself in Gene’s brain and spreads like a virus tainting his image of Finny in Chapter 2. His true feelings about Finny are seen right after Finny yet again talks his way out of trouble, and Gene says he “. . .felt a sudden stab of disappointment.” (Knowles 28) Instead of being happy that Finny escaped trouble as a genuine friend would be, he was hoping Finny would get in trouble for his shenanigans. As the story progresses, his envy towards Finny grows and grows until eventually, instead of seeing him as a friend, he begins viewing him as an opponent and villainizes his every action (Knowles 52).

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The author writing Finny’s dialogue always assumes the innocence of Gene, no matter the sentence. It is the clearest in this excerpt: “‘Yes, I remember seeing you standing on the bank. You were looking up and your hair was plastered down over your forehead so you had that dumb look you always have when you’ve been in the water - what was it you said? ‘Stop posing up there’ or one of those best-pal cracks you’re always making.’ He was very happy.”

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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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438 Words | 2 Pages

In John Knowles A Separate Peace he writes about the transition from childhood to adolescence. In this coming of age novel taking place in the 1950’s two teenage boys Finny and Gene form a relationship based on fear and adventure. The two opposite teens, finny a outgoing basically perfect teen and gene being a lesser perfect balances out the relationship between the two. The fact that they are somewhat minor opposites aren’t the only thing that brings the two together. Finny’s fear of anything bad or evil and gene’s fear of hitting rock bottom forms a relationship between the two teens which sets the stage for us all.

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“Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” (Emerson 370). John Knowles’s A Separate Peace takes place at a boarding school, Devon, in New Hampshire during World War II. Gene Forrester, one of the main characters, is a conformist that envies his best friend, Phineas (Finny). Gene is academically inclined and introverted, whereas Finny is athletically gifted and outgoing. A Separate Peace depicts how Gene’s envy and imitation affect him and his relationship with Finny, and how Gen found peace within himself after Finny’s death.

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Gene allows his opinion to interfere with the truth. According to Honesty and Not Telling The Truth “it is sometimes difficult to tell the truth” (Monkeyshines on Health and Science 17). Gene was so hooked on the fact that Finny was jealous of him that he told the reader but was not able to prove

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711 Words | 3 Pages

Gene Forrester’s Character Development The quote “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide,” (Emerson 370) accurately describes Gene Forrester from “A Separate Peace”. John Knowles is the author of “A Separate Peace” and it is set in New Hampshire at Devon High. Gene Forrester is not your normal protagonist; he thinks his best friend Phineas is “out to get him” and he eventually grows to envy him. He used to conform to Finny in the beginning, but he later grows into his own character.

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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

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718 Words | 3 Pages

According to Emerson, "envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide" (370). John Knowles' novel, A Separate Peace, is set in an all-boys boarding school, where Gene Forrester, a smart, conforming, 16-year-old boy, is the main character. The book illustrates how Gene's envy and imitation of his friend Finny affect him, his relationship with Finny, and his achievement of peace. Gene's envy and imitation of Finny have a detrimental effect on him.

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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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741 Words | 3 Pages

One way Gene’s jealousy and imitation is an effect on his relationship with Finny is that it caused lots of jealousy towards Finny because of his abilities, appearance, and actions. An example of this is when Gene stated “He had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment. That was because I just wanted to see some more excitement; that must have been it. " (Knowles).

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791 Words | 4 Pages

He still encourages Gene to do the things that Finny no longer can because he wants to see someone else flourish, and most importantly: his friend. After Finny’s death, Gene even declares that “nothing … had broken [Finny’s] harmonious and natural unity” (Knowles 203). Since Gene exclaims this, the reader understands that Finny

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623 Words | 3 Pages

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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582 Words | 3 Pages

Finny and Gene’s Friendship Friendship is very important in this story. Friendship is very important for a person’s well-being. In this book titled A Separate Peace by John Knowles the reader learns a lot about friendship in this book.

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In the book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the author shows Gene being changed by his jealous personality, reveals how interactions with other characters affect the main storyline, and displays how friendship

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