A Separate Peace Gene And Finny Relationship

Finny, who is extremely talented and outgoing, likes to keep things to himself and Gene. Finny hides his true emotions from people as if he is afraid of what bad will happen, not as if he is looking forward to the good that will happen. He gets

The fictional novel, A Separate Peace was written by John Knowles describes the life at Devon School during WWII. The novel follows two young boys, Gene and Phineas, as they face hardships and struggles throughout their life at Devon during the war. The war dominated life at Devon by creating tough decisions, causing students to act upon a life altering decision, and essentially create a war among each other.

Finny was the “ alpha male”. Everyone wanted to be like Finny. He was athletic, kind, caring and very loyal. Finny’s great character is illustrated in the novel when “He got away with

Their differing personalities was the stressor of their relationship at times. The smarter of the two, Gene was always wanting to stay inside their dorm and study instead of doing other things with all of the other boys. Although Gene is super studious Finny is the opposite. He is what now-a-days we would call a “Jock” he enjoyed sports and being popular. Nothing else interested him, he didn’t like to study or do anything that meant he had to stay inside for long periods of time. Blitzball was the sport that Finny invented while Gene was studying in the dorm for his French final. Up until the very last time that our two main characters talked to each other they were butting heads, From Finny getting Gene to jump from the tree to Funny breaking the school's record for swimming and not wanting to tell anyone they were forever having conflicting

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected him. One way Gene is affected is by how he wouldn’t think a situation all the way through. For example, Finny stated “You can’t stand around admiring the view. Jump!”(Knowles 5). This was the beginning of his unusual behavior because Gene would even question himself on how Finny talked him into stupid things, such as jumping from tree. Another way Gene is affected is by his identity. In the story, Gene said “I decided to put on his clothes” (Knowles 33). Gene would get so used to wearing Finny’s clothes, that he would forget what belongs

One way their relationship is concerned is because Gene was assuming that Finny was trying to sabotage him and that he was out to get him. Gene had said," Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society…That way he, the great athlete, would be ahead of me. It was all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity" (Knowles 53). Gene was ruining their friendship because of stupid assumptions that he made up in his head.

In today’s society, people have varying personality traits that continuously affect their actions and decisions. In a Separate Peace, Gene starts to become jealous of his friend Finny. In Gene’s eyes, Finny has it all. He is athletic, witty, confident, everyone loves him and he always seems to get his way. But the one thing he doesn't have is an academic brain. He is an average C student and that seems to be the only thing he isn’t good at. Gene on the other hand, is very smart and is in the running for valedictorian of their class. While the two boys don’t have much in common, their differing personalities balance each other out and they get along just fine, or so it seems. One noticeable thing that Finny has that Gene lacks in confidence. Due to this, their

In A Separate Peace Gene and Finny’s friendship has to tackle a lot of obstacles. Gene and Finny were never exactly on the same page when it came to their friendship. Each of them was always assuming about the other. One of the book’s messages is that friendships take work, and if the friendship is worth it, then you should put in the work. In A Separate Peace, there are prevalent themes of friendship, how friends can help or hurt one another, and the sacrifices made for loved ones.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him significantly. Gene starts to develop a personality just like Finny. As said in the novel, “‘If I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’ and I lost part of myself to him then” (Knowles 85). Due to Finny’s broken leg, he is not able to play sports anymore so he tells Gene that he needs to play sports for him. Gene loses himself to Finny.

Lamar Thompson describes their friendship as something different, “Genes growing envy of Finny… Gene finds himself jealous of Finny s ability to flout Devon rules (Themes in A Separate Peace 188).” Genes growing envy of Finny causes him to face adult problems which then in turn cause Gene to mature throughout the novel as he attempts to deal with these issues. This friendship led to major growth especially towards the novels closing when Finny admits how he feels to Gene, “Naturally I don’t believe books and I don’t believe teachers, but I do believe its important for me to believe you. Christ, I’ve got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody (Knowles 84).” This quote reestablishes how Finny trusts Gene more than anyone else they are tangled in what is an intense back and forth between two best friends, while Genes envy of Finny grows, Finny is still Genes best friend. They are maturing by attempting to save this friendship from completely falling apart, Gene hides his true inner feelings while Finny tells nothing but the truth and describes what he feels for Gene. Finny displays maturation by pouring out his inner emotions and not hiding them from others, he is open about his feelings and not afraid to describe how he really feels. Both Gene and Finny mature by the way that they handle the dilemma between each other, but they do so in

Friendships are like those fragile glass ornaments that come out for Christmas. They’re beautiful, until someone does something to damage it. Gene and Finny’s friendship is the same. Its great, until Gene’s mind comes along to ruin it. His jealousy gets in the way of him being able to appreciate Finny’s friendliness towards him.

Finny's death causes the greatest maturity growth in Gene's character. After Finny dies, he realized how his own hatred caused the death of his best friend. "He came to understand Finny's innocence and purity which causes Gene to see flaws within himself and forces him to grow up" (Alton 1). Being able to admit your own flaws is critical in maturing. When Gene finally sees his impact of immature behavior, he realizes how much he needs to mature. Even though Finny is physically gone, his spirit remains with Gene and essentially makes him the adult that he grows up to be. Finny's death is a crucial part of Gene's coming of age. When Finny dies, Gene's immature behaviors also die. Because Gene's hatred was gone, he entered war as a man.

Many times in the novel, Gene struggles with his identity, including when Finny was in the hospital and he decided to put on Finny’s clothes. Gene was thinking, “But when I looked in the mirror it was no remote aristocrat I had become, no character out of daydreams. I was Phineas, Phineas to the life” (62). Gene also says how it gave him a relief when he was wearing Finny’s clothes, and that he would never stumble through the confusions of his own character again. After viewing this quote, it is shown that Gene didn’t really understand who he was. He wanted to look like Finny and be Finny. Also, another time Gene struggled with his identity was when he and Finny were talking on the phone while Finny was still gone from Devon. Finny says “‘Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’ and I lost a part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas” (85). At this time in the book, Gene was feeling bad about Finny, and when Finny asked him to play sports for him, Gene felt like he was becoming a part of Finny. Because of this event, it’s shown that Gene didn’t exactly know who he was supposed to

After Finny tells Gene that Gene will play sports instead of him, Gene experiences a “soaring sense of freedom” that reveals, to him, that “this must have been [his] purpose from the first”(86). Gene is happy to do sports for Finny, since Phineas’s athleticism is now gone. This shows both boys think they are the same, as they are clearly happy to be in the other’s control, describing it as freedom. While the reader has seen Gene’s codependence towards Finny, the reader has not seen vice versa. Even though Finny realizes that Gene is the one that caused his fall from the tree, Gene can “hardly believe it”, when Finny indirectly shows that “he needed [him]”(108). This reveals how Finny also is codependent of Gene, conveying how Gene is astonished to see that Finny still wants his companionship even after the wrongs Gene has committed. As a result, this evinces how Gene realizes his mistakes, showing the dynamic nature of

Second, the injury puts Finny in the hospital, separating the two, which cause Gene to suffer depression. As Finny is badly wounded, he has to leave his boarding school, Devon, for a long period of time. He spends his time in the hospital, away from Gene. FurthermoreThis makes Gene regret his decision even more. Not only are Gene and Finny physically separated, but also emotionally separated. Essentially, Gene loses his