In the book, “A Separate Peace”, by John Knowles, a tragic event happens, someone dies. Although this event is straightforward, a boy fell and later died of his bone marrow entering his blood, what led it to occur is as complex as perhaps the war that was going on at that time. This death, like so many others, was not caused by one thing or person but instead it was a culminating event, the climax and end of our lives. Gene Forrester did not directly kill Phineas by causing Phineas to fall or by his own envy but he made it more likely. He was not the murderer but he was still someone to blame. Brinker Hadley’s constant earning for the truth of what happened contributed to Phineas’ death but he was not a killer. Phineas’s constant ignorance …show more content…
He was one person of many to blame since it was his envy and quite foreboding thoughts that made him feel and think that Phineas was trying to bring him down. “You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity … Then a second realization broke as clearly and bleakly as dawn at the beach. Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies … His instinct for sharing everything with me, especially his procession of D’s in every subject. That way he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me”, thought Gene, as it appeared on page 53 of the book. It shows how he felt when Phineas tried to destroy what he was good at, his studies. This led to his impulse and rush of anger when they were on the tree branch. After this, Gene tried to help Phineas and felt guilty. He allowed Phineas to live in his imaginary world with a “fake war” and the sorts. Towards the end of the book, during the “trial” held by Brinker, he tried to cover and acted ignorant of his actions but this simply leaded to Phineas walking away and suffering his second fall. He deserved to be blamed since he let his anger, envy, and superstitions control his actions leading to the fall and then letting Phineas and himself act ignorant to the past and what had