Differences Between Gene And Finny In A Separate Peace

Do differences in personality traits have a great affect on who will flourish in a real world society? In “A Separate Peace” the two main characters, Gene and Phineas, have many personality traits that make them similar but they also have very different interests in life. For example, Gene is mainly focused on his academics, while Phineas is very athletic and he is not too concerned about school or his grades. Knowles uses these two sets of characteristics to portray how two divergent people change as they mature and decide what path they choose to follow in life. Although Gene and Phineas have these unlike attributes, it is Phineas’ enjoyment of adventure, that Gene wanted so badly to appreciate as well, that brings them together. These …show more content…
These two characters represent a large amount of people due to their personality traits, that are sometimes referred to as “stereotypical.” For example, Gene represents someone who does their best to improve in life and follows all of the rules without trying to be rebellious. On the other hand, Finny portrays the type of person who does not believe that rules exist and that they are meant to be broken. These are two very opposite types of people, who tend to not group together, unlike Finny and Gene. An example from the story that shows how Gene’s behavior is typical of a human being is that he resents Finny for something that Gene does not do as well as he does. Also, Finny shows that his behavior is typical of that of a human being in general is when he does not want to know the truth about if Gene really did cause him to fall off the limb. This is typical behavior because a lot of people choose not to believe something that they hope is not true. These two characters illustrate a vast majority of human beings in general through their behavior throughout the novel. To conclude, Gene and Phineas are two unified characters who are brought together by their opposite personality traits. Their traits differ in athletic ability, academic success, and jealousy. These differences are all brought to the surface as their friendship progresses throughout the novel. They are able to overcome their differences and continue to build their friendship through resentment and forgiveness. To conclude, Gene and Phineas directly represent a relationship that involves being required to overpower dissimilarity and develop their connection through forgiveness and