...the story. The main character named Gene creates the plot of the story. As an insecure tennager in high school, Gene has problems with self-identity. This leads him to have internal conflict with his best friend, Finny. Gene has fun and exciting times with Finny, but he feels that there are also times when they compete like rivals. Gene is the antagonist of the story because he represents the ignorance within humanity. Gene Forrester who is both protagonist and antagonist has conflict within himself which impacts his friendship and the theme, the danger of codependency to identity. Through the majority of the story, Gene has internal conflicts pertaining to his resentment but also his appreciation towards his best friend, Finny. Gene and Finny were friends who always hung out and had fun with each other. One day, Finny confesses to Gene that he is his best friend. Gene had conflicting thoughts in his mind, that contained the truth, which stopped him from...
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...Many people have different relationships that they have developed with their friends. Often friendships are formed by each person having the same personality traits. Some friends form relationships by having the same dislikes. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles Finny and Gene developed a relationship based on each of the boys’ fears. Gene is afraid of Finny’s physical achievements and capabilities. Finny, on the other hand, is afraid of Gene’s academic performance. In the story Gene plays the role of the narrator. Also, in this book Gene’s tell about his younger years in a flashback from his adulthood. In his flashback he is a sixteen-year-old average teenager. In the book, average is described as self-conscious, uncertain, jealous, and...
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...characters, Gene and Finny, are truly friends. Knowles inserts many instances that tell if Gene and Finny have a real friendship. Throughout the novel, Gene and Finny exhibit that they are not true friends because of the jealousy and hate involved in their relationship. Gene and Finny display a fallacious relationship through the envy that builds up throughout the novel. Gene shows signs of jealousy when Finny gets away with an act, “He had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment,” (Knowles...
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...to be with the snow. Winter was a rough season in A Separate Peace written by John Knowles, because it is about unraveling the truth between Gene and Finny relationship. The relationship between Gene and Finny’s is put on the test by their friendship, their true personality, and the forgiveness between one another. Gene and Finny went to the Devon river, and at the river Finny told Gene, “we'll jump together to cement our partnership,” (Knowles 31). Knowles specifically uses the words “cement our partnership”, because he is trying to explain that Finny is telling Gene that when they jump off the tree together they become closer friends. Friendship is moreover shown when Knowles...
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...displays his traits in many ways. Phineas, better known as Finny, lives at an all boys school called Devon during the time of World War Two. He is a boy that gets into trouble, does not stay on task, and is a carefree person that like to have adventures. He brings his best friend and roommate, Gene, along with him to whatever mischief he gets into and throughout the book the reader gets an insight of what their lives were like. During the book, Finny is unaware, impulsive, and strong. Finny is unaware. Throughout the book Finny does not realize that the relationship between him and Gene is not a true and pure as he thinks it is. He is unaware that...
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...often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Threat of Codependency to Identity The central relationship in the novel—that between Finny and Gene—involves a complex dynamic of seeking to establish, yet being uncomfortable with, identity. Early in the book, the boys’ relationship seems fueled, in part, by Gene’s envy and resentment of his friend’s dominating spirit. As Finny demonstrates his physical prowess, Gene feels the need to accentuate his academic prowess. Finny’s fall from the tree, however, apparently purges Gene of his darker feelings and steers their relationship in a different direction so that codependency rather than envy characterizes it. The scene immediately following the fall symbolizes this evolution, as Gene dresses in Finny’s clothes and sees himself as looking exactly like him. From this point on, he and Finny come to depend on each other for psychological support. Gene plays sports because Finny cannot, allowing Finny to train him to be the athlete that Finny himself cannot be. This training seems an avenue for Finny simply to live vicariously through Gene. But Gene actively welcomes this attempt by Finny, for just as Finny derives inner strength from fulfilling his dreams through Gene, so, too, does Gene find happiness in losing his own self (which he seems to dislike) in Finny’s self (which he likes very much). Thus, the boys’ relationship becomes a model of codependency, with each feeding off of, and becoming fulfilled by, the other. This codependency...
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...constantly reflecting how Gene feels with Finny and how his feelings change during the seasons, which is metaphorically similar to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Gene is a boy who goes to the “Devon” school and is friends with Finny, the most popular kid in school. In Gene and Finny’s first summer together, Gene experiences a kind of blissful ignorance. However, when they go on a trip to the beach, Gene gains knowledge of himself and the world around him that overwhelms him, and accordingly he decides to hide his feelings ‘under the leaves’ in the fall and subsequently under the ‘ice’ in winter....
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...Steve Furtick once said, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel." In A Separate Peace by John Knowles Gene and Finny are two of the main characters who go to Devon; an all boys school. Through trials such as the war and Finny's accident the characters reveal the truth about themselves and how they act with tragedy. With tragedy Gene experiences insecurity and guilt. Gene is an insecure friend towards Finny. He compares his academics and athletics with Finny. He feels like Finny is just using him and they don't have a strong true friendship. Throughout the chapters Gene demonstrates insecurity towards his friendship with Gene. Gene has never told Finny how...
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...getters like flashbacks to leave readers. Gene is the main character that evolves change throughout the book. After 15 years, Gene search for peace was found. When Finny died Gene felt it was his own funereal. In conclusion Phineas death helped Gene find himself. Gene’s envies and imitation of Finny affected him in many ways. Gene imitates Finny so much that he even wear Finny’s clothes. Anything Finny tells Gene to do he is going to follow because Finny is his best friend. In a “Separate Peace” Gene stated, “But I always jumped otherwise I would have lost fale with Finny, and that would have been unthinkable (Knowles 34).” While Gene and Finny are cutting class, Gene loses time to study. According to the text Gene said, “Going there destroyed the studying I was going to do for an important test the next morning (Knowles 46).” Playing at the beach was fun until they had to go back to Devon. Gene studying was doomed and they skipped dinner. In conclusion Gene flunked his test because he was following behind Finny....
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...Friendship can be defined as a personal relationship where there is the ability to be yourself, express your feelings, and make mistakes without the fear of being judged. In the novel by John Knowles, he tells the story of a friendship between Gene and Phineas. They start their friendship as classmates at Devon School, during World War II, and during their time they learn many things about themselves and each other. In the novel, A Separate Peace, Gene learns through his friendship with Finny that he possesses athletic potential, that he cannot let jealousy get in the way of friendship, and that being honest can strengthen the bond between friends; therefore, people learn more about themselves through relationships than they do about others. Gene learns, in A Separate Peace, that Finny is...
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...John Knowels, the theme shown is that close friends make the worst enemies. Over the course of the novel this theme is shown through the symbolic representations of Gene and Finny’s Freindship. In a story Gene tells finny, Gene talks about a fire which is a metaphor for the state of their friendship. In the story it says “There was a fire. It was just a grass fire out behind our house. We… took some brooms and beat it, I guess what we really did was fan it because it kept getting bigger…” Fires are consuming, known to spread quickly and are generally a symbol of rage therefore the fire in the story is a symbol for the consuming feelings that is starting to put a strain on Gene and Finny’s relationship. The simple feelings of jealousy and competition felt between Gene and finny (as referenced to in other chapters) is turning into an even bigger feeling of rage inside Gene and no matter how much he tries to beat this fire within him or get rid of his feelings, they turn into an even bigger rage. During a conversation between Gene and Finny, Finny’s mention of the bond between him and winter is a representation between the bond between him and Gene. During the conversation Finny says “What I mean is, I love winter and when you really love something, then it loves you back in whatever way it has to love.” Gene replies “I didn’t think this was true, my seventeen years of experience had shown this to be more false than true.” In the wintertime the weather becomes very cold...
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...drives the Knowles’ characters. Phineas and Gene are analyzed in greater detail so that we can get a better understanding of these characters and what motivates them. Finally I conducted a psychological examination of the characters and how others view them and how that affects the characters. Gene Forrester, a boy from the south who gets the chance to study at Devon an extremely prestigious academy. He doesn’t quite fit in at first until he meets his roommate Phineas or Finny for short. They become friends quite quickly and the reader sees that Gene is held back or suspicious of this overly friendly guy. This shows us the first glimpse into the character that is Gene and how he is not as open to new people. As the story progresses we learn that Gene switches from adoring Finny, to envying him and his ways of persuasion. In this quote Gene states how everybody loves Finny and how lucky he is to be his best friend. “Finny could shine with everyone, he attracted everyone he met. I was glad of that too. Naturally. He was my roommate and my best friend.” (32) Later on when the boys are invited to the Headmaster’s Tea Finny manages to weasel his way out of trouble with his charm and persuasion. “Phineas was going to get away with even this.” (20) Finny had worn the school tie as a belt in his haste and managed to explain the tie and label it as a tribute. This part is important because this is when we start to see the other side of Gene, the side that wanted him to get in trouble...
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...understanding that Gene and Finny’s relationship ended on a relatively good note, and teaches the audience lessons of the redemption of peace and the acceptance of what isn’t perfect. Many readers conclude that, because Finny died, the relationship was automatically torn to pieces. However, the last scene between Finny and Gene before Finny went into surgery proves otherwise. The two boys revisited the mock trial and what was revealed, and fell into and conversation of hurried explanations and sincere apologies. They were able to sort everything out before it was too late. For instance, the last thing that Finny told Gene was “I believe you. It’s okay...
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...phases of Gene and Finny’s friendship. In Gene and Finny’s friendship, examples of loyalty and rivalry, betrayal and guilt, and confession and forgiveness can be seen. All friendships have times of loyalty, and times of rivalry. Finny and Gene’s friendship showcases these traits on a more serious matter. At first, before the loyalty phase of their friendship, Finny and Gene were no more than friends, it was not until Gene jumped out of the tree after Finny that they really started to become good friends. When Gene says, “I suddenly became his collaborator” (19) is really when his loyalty starts. This statement of Gene’s shows that the friendship just happened instead of continuously building on, like most relationships. Gene would have done anything for Finny, as it is shown in the story, when Gene drops everything to go to the beach with Finny, sacrificing his studying time. Finny even told Gene that he was his best friend at the beach,...
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...Gene’s discovery and story In the story “A separate Peace” by John Knowles, Gene has his moments in glory. Gene though wants something more, to win against the enemy who is Finny. The story is about Gene going to Devon school, struggling through jealousy, and exhibits compulsive outbursts that impact him and others around him. Gene feels compulsive towards Finny but then leads to jealousy throughout their relationship. In the story, Gene does many things that are unforgettable and gets away with it so therefore he is compulsive and jealous of Finny. Gene has jealousy towards Finny because Gene thinks that Finny is trying to sabotage him so he can’t study and try to be the top student in the class. Once Gene hears this, he gets so mad that when they usually jump off the high tree and into water, Gene jounced the limb so Finny will fall. For example, Finny said, “It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing were you, was that it?” (pages roughly 44-46/53/52/59-60) Then Gene couldn’t believe that Finny finally knew what it was and so then Finny forgave Gene. Later the next day, Finny died in the surgery of fixing...
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