A Separate Peace, By John Knowles
Friendship can change people’s lives for better and for worse. In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the main characters, Gene and Phineas, have a complicated relationship which changes both of their lives. Gene is better off having been friends with Finny because Finny’s death causes him to accept responsibility and reality.
Preceding Finny’s death, Gene does not admit responsibility for Phineas’ fall. Gene decides to tell Finny that the fall was his fault, because he thinks that is what Phineas would do in this situation. Once Gene tells him, Finny gets extremely mad, and Gene thinks that he needs to pretend that he was making it up. “Now I had to get out of there. There was only one way to do it; I would have to make every move false. ‘I’ve
had an awfully long trip,’ I said, ‘I never sleep much on trains. I guess I’m not making too much sense today.’” (71) Gene hasn’t accepted responsibility for Finny’s fall yet, and isn’t as good of a person as he could be. Before Phineas’ death, Gene doesn’t accept responsibility for pushing Finny out of the tree. Since Finny’s death, Gene not only accepts responsibility, he faces reality that Phineas never could face.
Gene is only willing to welcome reality after Finny’s death. Before Phineas dies, Gene aspires to be like Finny, and to think that war is not real. On page 123, Gene talks about how he is starting to think like Phineas. “This was my first but not last lapse into Finny’s vision of peace. For hours, and sometimes days, I fell without realizing it into the private explanation of the world.” Gene rejects the fact that the war is legitimate while Phineas is alive and while they are friends, so he can be like Finny. However, once Finny dies, Gene accepts the real world.
Following Finny’s death, Gene understands reality and accepts the fact that there is a war. When Gene goes back to Devon fifteen years after graduating, he visits the places that held great fear for him at the time. Once he visits these places, he feels like he is released from the bad memories that he associates with those places. “Changed, I headed back through the mud. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain.” (14) Gene finally accepts reality and responsibility for everything that happens at Devon, like Phineas’ fall and death. He no longer feels like the ghosts of what he has done are following him and he is released from what happened at Devon.
Gene recognizes reality and takes responsibility because of Finny’s death, causing him to be better off with Phineas. Gene doesn’t take responsibility for Finny’s fall until Phineas dies, and only understands the real world after Finny’s death. Following Finny’s death, Gene is willing to take responsibility for Phineas’ fall and admits that the war is real. Finny’s death is critical turning point for Gene. Friendship can change people’s lives for the better and for the worse, and in Finny and Gene’s situation, their friendship changes Gene and makes him a better person.
Preceding Finny’s death, Gene does not admit responsibility for Phineas’ fall. Gene decides to tell Finny that the fall was his fault, because he thinks that is what Phineas would do in this situation. Once Gene tells him, Finny gets extremely mad, and Gene thinks that he needs to pretend that he was making it up. “Now I had to get out of there. There was only one way to do it; I would have to make every move false. ‘I’ve
had an awfully long trip,’ I said, ‘I never sleep much on trains. I guess I’m not making too much sense today.’” (71) Gene hasn’t accepted responsibility for Finny’s fall yet, and isn’t as good of a person as he could be. Before Phineas’ death, Gene doesn’t accept responsibility for pushing Finny out of the tree. Since Finny’s death, Gene not only accepts responsibility, he faces reality that Phineas never could face.
Gene is only willing to welcome reality after Finny’s death. Before Phineas dies, Gene aspires to be like Finny, and to think that war is not real. On page 123, Gene talks about how he is starting to think like Phineas. “This was my first but not last lapse into Finny’s vision of peace. For hours, and sometimes days, I fell without realizing it into the private explanation of the world.” Gene rejects the fact that the war is legitimate while Phineas is alive and while they are friends, so he can be like Finny. However, once Finny dies, Gene accepts the real world.
Following Finny’s death, Gene understands reality and accepts the fact that there is a war. When Gene goes back to Devon fifteen years after graduating, he visits the places that held great fear for him at the time. Once he visits these places, he feels like he is released from the bad memories that he associates with those places. “Changed, I headed back through the mud. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain.” (14) Gene finally accepts reality and responsibility for everything that happens at Devon, like Phineas’ fall and death. He no longer feels like the ghosts of what he has done are following him and he is released from what happened at Devon.
Gene recognizes reality and takes responsibility because of Finny’s death, causing him to be better off with Phineas. Gene doesn’t take responsibility for Finny’s fall until Phineas dies, and only understands the real world after Finny’s death. Following Finny’s death, Gene is willing to take responsibility for Phineas’ fall and admits that the war is real. Finny’s death is critical turning point for Gene. Friendship can change people’s lives for the better and for the worse, and in Finny and Gene’s situation, their friendship changes Gene and makes him a better person.