Similarities Between Gene And Finny In A Separate Peace By John Knowles

On another note, Finny was also very genuine. When he was confronted by a teacher about his absence at dinner , Finny was simply honest, saying “The real reason, sir, was that we just had to jump out of that tree.” He was consistently truthful, no matter what the consequences were. Gene however, was dishonest, not only with himself but with Finny. He lied about the confession that he caused Finny to fall out of the tree, admitting to have been crazy and not thinking.

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

He tries to get Gene to join him in activities such as the Suicide Society. He even doubts their friendship and wonders if that is a way for him to become better. Gene begins to think that Finny doesn’t want him to succeed because Finny isn’t doing well in his studies. Finny is better than Gene at sports, so he thinks he’s trying to become better than him academically

Because of Gene’s sense of judgement, built up an alternate reality of a rivalry between him and his best friend, Finny.

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

Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery? The novel, “A Separate Peace”, written by John Knowles, illustrates a story of two boys in high school during the time of WWII. One of these boys is Gene, who is a talented student who often experiences paranoia, which, as a result, makes him jealous of others. The title, “A Separate Peace”, lies the character Gene, whose jealousy and envy affects himself and his relationship with Finny. First, Gene’s obsession with Finny leads him to transform the he behaves. Gene starts to disremember who he is and desires to be a part of Finny. Gene says, “… and I lost 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” (Knowles 85).

At the start, Gene is instantly jealousy of Finny, creating a fake friendship that is fueled by competition. This is shown when he wants to do something so he is good at, so he “was becoming the best student in the school: Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even” (Knowles 55). This proves that their friendship is fueled by competition because it shows that Gene always wants to be even. This

One thing that the book really shows the reviews about Finny is that he's super athletic he's gifted when it comes to sports greatness comes to him. In this quote routes that finny is naturally good gene said you always win in sports when you played a game you won. “Finny never permitted himself to realize that when you win they lost that would have destroyed the perfect beauty which was sport no thing bad ever happened to us boys they were the absolute good”.In the Book he says that he needs a Greek hero athlete always excelling in physical activities and always spirited. Gene starts to get a little jealous because when it comes to sports Finny excels all the time with ease but gene struggles to excel in sports.

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.

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

(52). Finny is so athletic with no fear, so he was able to jump out of the tree with ease. “I should have told him that he was my best friend”(49). Finny was always able to get his way out of everything he did wrong. He used words to get his way out of everything, but also his personality.

Finny is a very upbeat character during his life at Devon. As Finny gets ready to jump from the tree the first time, he yells, “Well,” … “here’s my contribution

“Human action can be modified to some extent , but human nature cannot be changed…” - Abraham Lincoln. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the characters have to face their true human nature. They fall victim to the dark side of humanity, these flaws of human nature are expressed by Gene and Finny as the have to learn more about themselves, each other, and the world. They face challenges they were not prepared for and have to find ways to deal with them. Finny and Gene learn about their true nature as they grow up. In A Separate Peace, Gene and Finny reveal the human weakness of jealousy, fear, and denial.

“But I no longer needed this vivid false identity . . . I felt, a sense of my own real authority and worth, I had many new experiences and I was growing up “(156). Gene’s self-identity battle ends and he finds his real self. Gene’s developing maturity is also shown when he tells the truth about Leper. His growing resentment against having to mislead people helps Gene become a better person. When Brinker asks about Leper, Gene wants to lie and tell him he is fine but his resentment is stronger than him. Instead Gene comes out and tells the truth that Leper has gone crazy. By pushing Finny out of the tree, crippling him for life and watching him die; Gene kills a part of his own character, his essential purity. Throughout the whole novel Gene strives to be Finny, but by the end he forms a character of his own. Gene looks into his own heart and realizes the evil. “. . . it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart” (201). He grasps that the creation of personal problems creates wars. Gene comes to acknowledge Finny’s uniqueness and his idealism and greatly admires his view of the world. He allows Finny’s influence to change him and eliminates the self-ignorance. At Finny’s funeral Gene feels that he buries a part of himself, his innocence. “I could not escape a feeling

He thinks Finny is trying to sabotage his studies so that he can be number one at that too! In reality, Finny is just trying to be a good friend. Gene is jealous of Finny’s athleticism, but he covers it up by the thought that all Finny wants to do is hurt him. In attempt to have some fun, Finny wants Gene and some other boys to jump from a tree limb into a river. This challenge is something that has never been done by a boy their age. After doing it once, Finny later convinces Gene to leave his studies and come do it again. While the boys are on the tree limb, Finny stumbles, falls into the river, and breaks his leg. Since Finny can no longer participate in any sporting events, he decides to train Gene for the 1944 Olympics. Gene eventually comes to the conclusion that “[Finny] had never been jealous of [him] for a second. Now [he] know[s] there was and never could have been any rivalry between [them]” (Knowles 78). Gene realizes that Finny wasn’t ever jealous of him, and that pushing Finny from the tree is a mistake that he will later regret. Finny dies after falling down the stairs and a failed surgery, so Gene begins to feel guilty for his actions. Gene had earlier decided to enlist in the war, and had told the other boys about it. After a lot of thinking, he eventually decides not to enlist in the war. Gene now begins to see the wrong doing he had participated in earlier,