“So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all” (Knowles 14). John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, based his book on the principle idea of “an abiding concern with the social forces that can warp and suppress the best in people.” Gene Forrester, a solid but not-so-brilliant student who attends Devon school, introduces this principle idea. A Separate Peace recognizes that through envy and imitation, identities and relationships can mold into something new. In the end, Gene gained his separate peace. Gene’s resentment of Finny affects him in such a way that he becomes “liable to corruption from within” (Alton). By being controlled and affected by his own envy, anger, and fear that builds up from such things, Gene tends
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One way it is affected is by bringing them closer to one another. One instance of this is when Finny tells Gene that he will play sports in his place, to which Gene says,”…and I lost part of myself to him then… my purpose… to become a part of Phineas” (Knowles 85). By Gene’s constant spite and paralleling affecting himself and Finny, it would also cause a change in their relationship. The accident would inevitably bring them closer together and (create a stronger relationship as Finny says). Another way Gene and Finny’s relationship is affected is by creating something that Finny will always be injured in where it be physical or emotional. ‘“… I did it because I felt like that! Now you know yourself!”… “It struck me that I was injuring him again… this could be an even deeper injury…” (Knowles 70). By remaining friends in spite of Gene causing the first injury to Finny’s leg, Gene’s constant imitation and envy begins to get the better of him and causes him to constantly injure Phineas. Whether it be emotional of physical, Finny is always overcoming damage from Gene to maintain their relationship. All of Gene’s changes and over-comings help him to find his own
One way it is affected is by bringing them closer to one another. One instance of this is when Finny tells Gene that he will play sports in his place, to which Gene says,”…and I lost part of myself to him then… my purpose… to become a part of Phineas” (Knowles 85). By Gene’s constant spite and paralleling affecting himself and Finny, it would also cause a change in their relationship. The accident would inevitably bring them closer together and (create a stronger relationship as Finny says). Another way Gene and Finny’s relationship is affected is by creating something that Finny will always be injured in where it be physical or emotional. ‘“… I did it because I felt like that! Now you know yourself!”… “It struck me that I was injuring him again… this could be an even deeper injury…” (Knowles 70). By remaining friends in spite of Gene causing the first injury to Finny’s leg, Gene’s constant imitation and envy begins to get the better of him and causes him to constantly injure Phineas. Whether it be emotional of physical, Finny is always overcoming damage from Gene to maintain their relationship. All of Gene’s changes and over-comings help him to find his own