A Separate Peace Character Analysis

Gene thought that Finny was his enemy, but he realized that it wasn’t Finny that he hated, it was himself. Another way Gene is affected was his loss of identity. Gene states, “He got away with everything because of the extraordinary kind of person he was” (Knowles 28-29). Gene was amazed how Finny got away with everything and the type of person he was. Therefore, he wanted to become Finny. In addition, Gene’s envy and imitation of finny not only affected him, but it affected his relationship with Finny. One way their relationship is affected is when Finny finds out Gene caused the accident, causing Finny to hate him. Gene states, “I would have liked very much to do that myself; it would have meant a lot to me. But Phineas might begin to curse me out with every word he knew, he might lose his head completely, he would certainly be worse off for it” (Knowles 107). Gene wanted to help Finny but he knew Finny was mad at him. He did not want to make him more angry by helping because Gene caused the

Sometimes people read a text and do not go any further into the message inside. Howeverin the story A Separate Peace by John Knowles, The character of Finny represents innocence-aninnocence that is destroyed when it is forced to confront the hatred and evil in the real world.Finny is preserved by most as a picture of innocence because he acts like he has nothingto hide from anyone. The reader can infer this because, most of the teachers at Devon seem tothink of him this all good boy way. The reason the reader thinks this is because, they let the stuffthat Finny does, that is against the rules, slide and he does not get in any form of trouble.However when anyone else at Devon done these things they do not let them off as easy. Thisbeing because of the fact that Finny had a certain attitude towards life that made people not seethe bad in him.However later in the novel Finny falls from the tree and

He no longer cared about his grades, and his personality went from introvert to very outspoken. His negative trait carries on throughout the whole book, but the underlying competition between him and Phineas lived on. When Phineas died, Gene’s negativity and hostile actions almost dissipated on the spot. “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family’s strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case.” If Gene did in some way become a part of Phineas, then part of Finny lives on in Gene. The narrator alludes to this when he says that he still lives his life in Finny’s created “atmosphere.”

Even in the moment that Gene had shaken the tree branch, he had it set in his mind that it was Finnys fault he had fallen and that he had no part in it. Whether it was intentional or not, Gene's part in Finny's death is a major symbol. The story is formed by Gene's internal struggle and guilt about his choices and intentions. The aftermath of Finny's death shows the uglier sides of humanity by making Gene face his fears, jealousies, and guilt for the tragedy. “I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case.

As you can see, Gene had much reason to push Finny out of the tree. It was from jealousy from Finny's athleticism, his popularity, and his ability to talk his way out of almost anything. Only Gene knew that Finny was the only person at the school that could accomplish so many things, and Gene did not want to deal with Phineas

It wasn’t my neck, but my understanding which was menaced. He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he.” This is what Gene fears, more than Finny’s charm or athleticism but his goodness of heart, how what he says is what he means for his motives. What I don’t understand is why Gene is relieved of fear when Finny falls from the tree and breaks some bones in his body. His athleticism was destroyed, but his character wasn’t. Maybe it was because that’s one less thing Finny is able to do, but I’m not sure what to make of this. In addition to what I said in the first paragraph, when Brinker brings in Gene and Finny into the courtroom to investigate the accident, although Gene fears that the truth will be told, he’s not the only one there who holds the emotion of fear. “Finny turned toward me. “You were down at the bottom, weren’t you?” he asked not in the official courtroom tone he had used before, but in a friend’s voice.” Finny fears Gene’s betrayal that he has altered the past in his mind to avoid facing the truth. In the beginning of the investigation, Finny is unsure about what happened. First he claims that he took a wrong step and lost his balance. When Gene is the interrogated about whether he was in the tree or not, Finny aggressively said, “How do you expect him to remember?” “There was a

At the beginning of the story, Gene is unconcerned about his actions, but after he has suffered and understands how selfish he was. He was blinded by his jealousy of Finny and eventually his insecurities overwhelmed him. “This time he wasn’t going to get away with it. I could feel myself become unexpectedly excited at that” (30). In this

A Separate Peace is a novel based around a group of high school boys in a private college preparatory school named Devon. Most of Devon’s students want, have, and search for peace throughout their time at school. Upon return from summer break, each character searches for and discovers their own peace. Each character has found or withheld a certain peace, in real life. Each separate peace is exposed throughout fatal or cheerful events. The words separate and peace represent a variety of ideas in Knowles’ novel, especially for Gene, Phineas, and Leper. I believe author John Knowles chose this title to imply individuals may possess their own unique peace.

When Gene is quick to realize that him and Finny will never be of the same power, Knowles shows us that a loss of identity may be present in a relationship if there is an unequal amount of power. Gene realizes that Finny is someone who can do anything and he states that “He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could be any rivalry between us. I was not the same quality as he” (59). Gene’s low self-esteem starts to build up as he explains that no matter how hard he tries, he will never be as good and powerful as Phineas. Finny has everything in his power and is capable of so many things also remaining his own person. However, Gene feels the complete opposite as he understands that to become someone as mighty as Finny, he has to change who he is to even get Finny to notice him as a threat. As a result of this unequal

Brinker questions Gene, alluding to the fact that he wanted Finny dead so he could have the dorm room to himself. Gene laughs off the joke, continuously saying the Finny simply lost his balance, not admitting to his wrongdoing. Once Finny fell out of the tree and was gone, all of Gene's innocence was gone too. From there he had experiences that would shape him into the boy he was at the end of the story. When Finny comes back, Gene feels it's his duty to take care of him.

Every good story has one character that contrasts from the mood of the entire story. Within the story A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Phineas was an optimistic, fearless, and humble student at the Devon School. Phineas, with Finny being his more commonly used nickname, tried to be a positive influence to those around him all throughout the book. He constantly supported himself and Gene, his friend, even if Gene did not return the favor. In addition, he was involved in many adventures and always thought of new ideas to enlighten the bleak mood of the school. To summarize, Finny genuinely was an amazing character, even his closest friend was secretly jealous of him.

Many people have their own definition of evil. In the dictionary the definition is profoundly immoral and malevolent. My personal definition of evil is putting your needs before others, hurting someone or making their life miserable just so you have a better advantage to succeeding in your life. “A Separate Peace” is about a boy named Gene Forrester who returns to his school called the Devon school. He attended the school when he was young during World War II. Gene is a hardworking student who is devoted to his studies. Finny on the other hand, is terrible at schoolwork but is a tremendous athlete. In my point of view Gene is a ruthless evil person.

Normally when you think of friends, you do not associate them with fear. It seems like Knowles associated fear with Gene's friends. After purposely jostling the tree branch to injure Phineas, Gene did not want to immediately tell Phineas what had actually happened. Gene said that his fear of jumping off the tree branch was forgotten after this event. Phineas did not know if he had fallen on his own or if he had been pushed by Gene. Gene was understandably worried about Finny's reaction to this conversation, so he put the conversation off for as long as he could. He also did not completely trust Phineas. Even though they were supposedly friends, Gene thought that Finny was secretly one of his rivals. Gene said, "The way I believed that you're-my-best-friend blabber" (Knowles 53). Finally, Gene showed that he was fearful of his friends toward the ending of A Separate Peace. When Brinker decided that there must be a trial to determine what had happened to Phineas, Gene fretted about what his fellow students might discover about him. Brinker said, "What I mean is it wouldn't do you any harm, you know, if everything about Finny's accident was cleared up and forgotten" (Knowles 160). He did not want them to find out about his role in Finny's injury. After Phineas injured his leg rushing down the steps of the Assembly Hall, Gene seemed to have a sense of fear until Finny died. Phineas never seemed to fear Gene, even after he had found out about Gene's role in his injury.

First, Gene admits to being guilty of shaking a tree in order to injure Finny when he visits him at his home, making Finny livid, and temporarily tearing them apart. Gene is envious of Finny’s athletic ability and bravery. One way Finny shows his bravery is by jumping off a tree for fun. Gene is greatly threatened by the bravery, so he decides to strip it from Finny by shaking the tree one day, making him fall and suffer an injury. Consequently, he instantly regrets his decision, but he realizes that the damage is done. Remorsefully, he wants to apologize for his terrible choice, but when he tries to talk about the situation and confess, Finny is in denial and starts to get angry. Finny’s denial is evident when he says “‘I don’t know anything. Go away. I’m tired and you make me sick. Go away’” (Knowles 70). This dialogue shows how Finny did not believe that Gene caused the incident even after the confession. This is because he believes that Gene would not do such an action. The confession tears Finny apart to the point that he lashes out at Gene and wants him to leave his house. If Gene did not commit the notorious action, Finny would not have to feel the pain physically from the injury, and mentally from the idea that Gene would hurt him, and the boys could have a stronger friendship.

In the beginning of the novel, Gene, is a clueless individual. He sees the worst in people and lets his evil side take over not only his mind but also his body. During the tree scene, Gene convinces himself that Finny isn’t his friend, tricking himself into thinking that Finny is a conniving foil that wants to sabotage his academic merit. Gene is furthermore deluded that every time Finny invites Gene somewhere it’s to keep him from studying and