Gene Forrester's Insecurities In John Knowles A Separate Peace

Insecurities have a way of driving people to do the extreme. The deep emotion indicates the lack of self-confidence that can prompt humans to act upon impulse and do unexplainable things. In the novel, A Separate Peace, John Knowles gives the reader insight into how Gene Forrester’s insecurities drive the plot and the resulting actions of it. Gene’s insecurities show up early in the novel. From the beginning, Gene fills his mind with irrational questions, “What was I doing up here anyways? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he trying to get some kind of hold over me?” (Knowles 29). Gene allows his insecurities to consume him which brings unreasonable thoughts to his mind and makes him skeptical about his friendship with Finny. This makes Gene constantly compare himself to Finny. He describes himself as “the best student in the school” (Knowles 47) and Finny as …show more content…
Gene, with his mind set on his goal and a French exam coming up, accuses Finny of trying to ruin his grade. Finny genuinely tells Gene that he didn’t know he had to study and that he did not have to come. Gene’s jealousy wouldn’t allow him to miss an opportunity with Finny so he immediately states, “Never mind, forget it… I’m going.” (Knowles 49). Finny made it clear to Gene that he wasn’t trying to sabotage his grades which leads Gene to realize that Finny is truly a better person than he is. Just having this realization, Gene thinks to himself, “I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this.” (Knowles 51). They arrive to the tree and meet up with a mutual friend, Leper. Gene and Finny decide to jump together as a symbol for their friendship. They climb up and position themselves to jump. Despite all Gene has just recently realized, his insecurities lead him to act on impulse and purposely joust limb. This causes Finny to fall and shatter his