A Separate Peace: Character Analysis
Paranoia, betrayal, competition; two boys by the names Gene and Phineas fight for the number one spot in their friendship. Yet there a slight plot twist, this is all an illusion in Gene’s mind. There is not really any competition, nor any paranoia in their friendship; only in Gene’s perspective. In the intriguing novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene’s ulterior motives disrupt the healthy friendship both he and Phineas contain. This type of mind shows a difference between Gene’s and Phineas’s character. Even throughout this story, principles of contrast are shed to reveal one’s true characteristics. In this novel, both Gene and Phineas are roommates at an all boys boarding school named Devon in the 1940s (the time during World War II.)
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The author builds Gene by making him competitive, using his thoughts and actions to show the factor, such as, “If I was head of the class and won that prize, then we would be even (page 52.) Contrasting that, the author lead Phineas to have a “competitive for fun” type of outlook, as seen when Phineas breaks the school record yet doesn’t tell anyone (pages 37 and 44.) Instead of the author just coming out and saying that Gene was competitive and Phineas wasn’t, he puts a twist in the outlook to show the hidden motives between them, making the reader infer the true characteristics between one’s action. Additionally, another example would be how Gene is a follower and how Phineas is a leader. Phineas usually takes command of a lot of many of the activities both the boys usually do; one example to which shows how Phineas dominates control is when he says “Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me (page 85.)” Since Gene does not have a leader type personality, he abides toward this work of speech said by Phineas, instead of working against it. Pursuing this further, Gene even says that it has “ been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas (page 85.)” Unquestionably this shows how Gene follows the footsteps of Phineas, and how the author intentionally made this instance to show how both characters differ. Throughout the story, the author continues this type of characterization, admitting the intentions of both characters by contrasting them against each
The author builds Gene by making him competitive, using his thoughts and actions to show the factor, such as, “If I was head of the class and won that prize, then we would be even (page 52.) Contrasting that, the author lead Phineas to have a “competitive for fun” type of outlook, as seen when Phineas breaks the school record yet doesn’t tell anyone (pages 37 and 44.) Instead of the author just coming out and saying that Gene was competitive and Phineas wasn’t, he puts a twist in the outlook to show the hidden motives between them, making the reader infer the true characteristics between one’s action. Additionally, another example would be how Gene is a follower and how Phineas is a leader. Phineas usually takes command of a lot of many of the activities both the boys usually do; one example to which shows how Phineas dominates control is when he says “Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me (page 85.)” Since Gene does not have a leader type personality, he abides toward this work of speech said by Phineas, instead of working against it. Pursuing this further, Gene even says that it has “ been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas (page 85.)” Unquestionably this shows how Gene follows the footsteps of Phineas, and how the author intentionally made this instance to show how both characters differ. Throughout the story, the author continues this type of characterization, admitting the intentions of both characters by contrasting them against each