In the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles writes about two best friends who went to a boarding school called Devon during the early years of the civil war. Knowles uses a variety of literary devices in order to convey that jealousy can lead to regretful decisions.
Furthermore, Knowles reveals jealousy can lead to regretful decisions through characterization. For instance, Knowles writes, “Sure Finny wanted to share everything with me, especially his procession of D’s in every subject. That way he, the great athlete, would be ahead of me. It was cold trickery, it was calculated, it was all enmity.”(53) In the quote, Knowles demonstrates Gene’s jealousy towards Finny. Finny was trying to sabotage Gene’s studying by distracting him, form this one can infer that Gene can no longer trust Finny. Speaking …show more content…
Speaking about Knowles use of parallelism to convey Gene’s regret, Knowles writes, “I decided to put on his clothes… but when I looked into the mirror it was no remote aristocrat I had become, no character, out of daydreams. I was Phineas, Phineas to the life… I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character.”(54) In this quote, Gene already feels better about himself because he has become a part of Phineas and Phineas has become a part of him. In fact, Knowles writes, “A soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first; to become a part of Phineas.”(77) Throughout the novel, Gene obsesses about becoming a part of Phineas, allows Phineas to live through him, and learns how much he has hurt Finny and how truly innocent Finny has
Furthermore, Knowles reveals jealousy can lead to regretful decisions through characterization. For instance, Knowles writes, “Sure Finny wanted to share everything with me, especially his procession of D’s in every subject. That way he, the great athlete, would be ahead of me. It was cold trickery, it was calculated, it was all enmity.”(53) In the quote, Knowles demonstrates Gene’s jealousy towards Finny. Finny was trying to sabotage Gene’s studying by distracting him, form this one can infer that Gene can no longer trust Finny. Speaking …show more content…
Speaking about Knowles use of parallelism to convey Gene’s regret, Knowles writes, “I decided to put on his clothes… but when I looked into the mirror it was no remote aristocrat I had become, no character, out of daydreams. I was Phineas, Phineas to the life… I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character.”(54) In this quote, Gene already feels better about himself because he has become a part of Phineas and Phineas has become a part of him. In fact, Knowles writes, “A soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first; to become a part of Phineas.”(77) Throughout the novel, Gene obsesses about becoming a part of Phineas, allows Phineas to live through him, and learns how much he has hurt Finny and how truly innocent Finny has