Unsettling Curiosity
Oftentimes people think of the ideal nostalgia, getting comfort from looking back on the past, instead of the reality of pain and hardship. In A Separate Peace, a novel written by John Knowles, Gene the very impressionable narrator, looks back on his past with strong discomfort about what happens and what actions he commits. Every time Gene thinks of the tree where he pushed Finny (his best friend and roommate) off of, he is overridden with immense guilt. We intend to look through the pain and issues we experience, because we have had to live through them once and we do not want to undergo that familiar tenderness all over again. In reality this situation is quite unheard of; the majority of the time our thoughts are suffocated …show more content…
When Gene looks back on the day with Finny in the tree, he realizes that when he “jounced the limb” leaving Finny to drop to the bank below “with a sickening, unnatural thud” what he does is completely juvenile ( 60). Gene’s original intentions were to get-back-at Finny for what he thought was rightfully deserved. As he continues to think more about what happened that day and starts to see what Finny has to go through as a result. He began to consider the consequences and underlying facts. This one quick event lead to an all-star athlete to never be able to participate in any sport ever again, all because of an impulsive decision . This forces him to question what he had done to cause this, enabling the truth to glare through. This exemplifies how in the moment he does what feels right at the time, but now he can see clearly that this is an exceedingly defective way to solve the issue he is dealing with. Not only does Gene provide examples of harmful actions, but Finny does as well. He claims that Leper has “gone crazy” and that everyone “might as well admit it”(163) stating it as if it was a fact comprehensible by everybody else. To claim what simply appears in his mind is a prime example of tender choices. At the time it might have seemed to be merely detecting what was thought to create depth in the conversation, but is now seen as …show more content…
He cries for Phineas and for himself and for this doctor who believes in facing things” (64). Gene is no longer able to keep everything all put together as he rightfully blames himself for what he had done to Finny. He would not have felt this burden if he had not criticised himself so harshly. Another time Gene displays this is when Finny convinced Gene into jumping off of the tree into the river. He asks himself: “what was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some of over me”(17). Gene finds himself doing something that he originally did not think was such a big deal, but is now able to consider how this may not be a good idea. He scrutinizes his memories, whether it was a week or five minutes ago. Because of his own self critique, he questions himself and is able see the truth in the
Oftentimes people think of the ideal nostalgia, getting comfort from looking back on the past, instead of the reality of pain and hardship. In A Separate Peace, a novel written by John Knowles, Gene the very impressionable narrator, looks back on his past with strong discomfort about what happens and what actions he commits. Every time Gene thinks of the tree where he pushed Finny (his best friend and roommate) off of, he is overridden with immense guilt. We intend to look through the pain and issues we experience, because we have had to live through them once and we do not want to undergo that familiar tenderness all over again. In reality this situation is quite unheard of; the majority of the time our thoughts are suffocated …show more content…
When Gene looks back on the day with Finny in the tree, he realizes that when he “jounced the limb” leaving Finny to drop to the bank below “with a sickening, unnatural thud” what he does is completely juvenile ( 60). Gene’s original intentions were to get-back-at Finny for what he thought was rightfully deserved. As he continues to think more about what happened that day and starts to see what Finny has to go through as a result. He began to consider the consequences and underlying facts. This one quick event lead to an all-star athlete to never be able to participate in any sport ever again, all because of an impulsive decision . This forces him to question what he had done to cause this, enabling the truth to glare through. This exemplifies how in the moment he does what feels right at the time, but now he can see clearly that this is an exceedingly defective way to solve the issue he is dealing with. Not only does Gene provide examples of harmful actions, but Finny does as well. He claims that Leper has “gone crazy” and that everyone “might as well admit it”(163) stating it as if it was a fact comprehensible by everybody else. To claim what simply appears in his mind is a prime example of tender choices. At the time it might have seemed to be merely detecting what was thought to create depth in the conversation, but is now seen as …show more content…
He cries for Phineas and for himself and for this doctor who believes in facing things” (64). Gene is no longer able to keep everything all put together as he rightfully blames himself for what he had done to Finny. He would not have felt this burden if he had not criticised himself so harshly. Another time Gene displays this is when Finny convinced Gene into jumping off of the tree into the river. He asks himself: “what was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some of over me”(17). Gene finds himself doing something that he originally did not think was such a big deal, but is now able to consider how this may not be a good idea. He scrutinizes his memories, whether it was a week or five minutes ago. Because of his own self critique, he questions himself and is able see the truth in the