“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist” (Emerson 370). A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles during the World War II at Devin school, 1942. Gene a, 5’8 sixteen year old, returns to his childhood school for peace. Also as the narrator, Gene struggles with internal emotions toward his friend and identifying who he truly is. A Separate Peace demonstrates how Gene envy and imitation affect himself and his relationship with Finny; Gene finds peace. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected him. Gene believed that Finny was trying to wreck his studies with games, going to beach, and their Secret Suicide Society. Forrester observes that “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball,
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Forrester’s jealousy motivates him to try and outdo Phineas. Gene states that “ I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even… and when everything was thrown into scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me” (Knowles 29). Gene tries to get even with Finny skills. Phineas never consider Gene might be jealousy because he always want the best for people and think the best of people. On the other hand, in Gene mind Finny becomes less of a friend and more of an opponent to be beaten. Although Gene is smart academically and Phineas the best athlete, Gene feels he still has to beat him. Forrester unspoken sense of competition add tension to their friendship. The tension and jealousy of finny corrupts their friendship and leads Gene to ‘jounce’ Phineas out of the tree. IN the article “An overview of A Separate Peace”, the author states “He recognize his attraction to deadly things and more significantly, he writes a narrative about his relationship with Phineas revealing the flaws in his own character which led to Phineas death” (Alton). The tension between Gene and Phineas builds up until Gene ultimately snap. Gene realized it was a perfect time to push Finny because they were alone. However, Gene had a lot of anger built up and thought pushing Finny would be a good way to release it. Gene and Phineas friendship is destroyed and would never get fixed because of Finny’s death, yet it helps
Forrester’s jealousy motivates him to try and outdo Phineas. Gene states that “ I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even… and when everything was thrown into scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me” (Knowles 29). Gene tries to get even with Finny skills. Phineas never consider Gene might be jealousy because he always want the best for people and think the best of people. On the other hand, in Gene mind Finny becomes less of a friend and more of an opponent to be beaten. Although Gene is smart academically and Phineas the best athlete, Gene feels he still has to beat him. Forrester unspoken sense of competition add tension to their friendship. The tension and jealousy of finny corrupts their friendship and leads Gene to ‘jounce’ Phineas out of the tree. IN the article “An overview of A Separate Peace”, the author states “He recognize his attraction to deadly things and more significantly, he writes a narrative about his relationship with Phineas revealing the flaws in his own character which led to Phineas death” (Alton). The tension between Gene and Phineas builds up until Gene ultimately snap. Gene realized it was a perfect time to push Finny because they were alone. However, Gene had a lot of anger built up and thought pushing Finny would be a good way to release it. Gene and Phineas friendship is destroyed and would never get fixed because of Finny’s death, yet it helps