Preview

A Separate Peace Jealousy Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
139 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Separate Peace Jealousy Analysis
Rivalries and competition are the heart of jealousy. In A Separate Peace jealousy was at the basis of the competition between Gene and Finny, one who was superior in the classroom and one who was superior on the field. Gene let this competition go to the extent of jealousy. Jealousy was what controlled Gene to jounce Finny off the tree. “Finny never permitted himself to realize that when you won they lost. That would have destroyed the perfect beauty which was sport,”(Chapter 3) this quote shows that Finny continually conquered his peers in athletic events. Finny failed to see the unsuccessful side losing on a consistent basis. The invigorated Gene to show Finny that he wasn't the incomparable to his peers. This struck jealousy between

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this chapter, after Leper sends a telegraph which says: "I have escaped and need help. I am at Christmas location. You understand. No need to risk address here. My safety depends on you coming at once." Gene then figures out what he was to do that winter and immediately set his destination for Leper's "Christmas location," which is code for his home in Vermont. Taking a train and bus through the barren landscape of New England, Gene arrives in Leper's town the next day. With each step through the snow, he refuses to believe that Leper has abandoned the army: trying to convince himself that "escape" meant Leper was escaping from spies. As Gene approaches…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles the reader is left with the question, did Gene Forrester jounce the branch, crippling his roommate in the process, on purpose or accident, trapped in their minds? In 1942 during WW II, Gene Forrester began attending a school in New England called Devon. At Devon, Gene soon finds out his roommate, Phineas also known as Finny, was an extraordinary athlete, quite manipulating and able to talk himself out of any kind of trouble or responsibilities he may have had. This caused Gene to become filled with jealousy and competitiveness because he believed Finny was trying to stay “ahead” of him. This is why the essay will discuss Gene’s jealous and competitive personality which could lead the reader to believe…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Telgen states John Knowles was born on 16 September 1926, in Fairmont, West Virginia. At the age of fifteen, Knowles attended New Hampshire's prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy. The Devon school, where most of the actions of A Separate Peace take place, is based on Phillips Exeter.…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Both the movie and the book share a basic concept of showing an understanding of a story being told. The book does a more in depth explanation and a better job of narrating the story. John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, is a story about a destructive and corrupt relationship between Finny and Gene who both attend Devon School around World War ll where most boys went off to fight in the army not realizing there was already a war created within themselves, hence the title, A Separate Peace. The book does a much more effective job of telling the story compared to the movie. In the novel, the story is being told from Gene's perspective whereas in the movie, it is being told from a third persons point of view. Also, Cliff…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first scene of jealousy to be discussed, is the scene where Gene jounced the limb of the tree, causing Finny to fall. Finny ended up with a severely broken leg. Any reader would basically have to think that Gene jounced the limb because of his of jealousy of Finny. Finny was one of those kids that everyone could be jealous of. He was a rebel, but could talk his way out of everything. He could be known as the “Houdini” of getting in trouble! Gene was obviously jealous of this, like everyone. However, the kicker is when the reader finds out that Gene had previously thought that Finny was trying to sabotage him because he was jealous of Gene’s academic abilities. At this point, you are probably thinking to yourself “What if Gene accidently did move the branch? What if he…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester and Phineas, also known as Finny, are best friends who have a very deep friendship. However, as the story progresses, Gene began to develop feelings of jealousy for Finny when he saw how perfect Finny’s character is. Finny has always been able to talk his way out of trouble and is naturally a good athlete who is earnest, confident, & pure. On the other hand, Gene cannot be pure like Finny and feels insecure. Seeing how good Finny is, caused Gene to become jealous, “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything, I couldn’t help envying him…” (ch2.20) Soon, Gene thinks that a rivalry is happening between them. Because Gene envies Finny’s character, he thinks that Finny is also jealous of him for his good academic performance, “I felt better. Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief …We were even after all… The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.”(ch4.34). By thinking there is a competition between them, Gene feels at ease, because none of them is better than the other. One night, Finny announced that Leper will jump off the tree, in order to become a full member of their secret society. Gene didn’t want to go because he feared his grade would slip if he didn’t study and also thinks that Leper wouldn’t dare to jump off the tree. After hearing from Gene that he wanted to study, Finny was surprise because he thought that Gene was naturally intelligent, who doesn’t need to review for a test. With sincerity, Finny lets Gene study, but Gene changed his mind and would come along with Finny. On the way to the tree,Gene realizes that a competition never happened and it was just Gene that was envious of Finny. Because Gene saw Finny's goodness and innocence, Gene realizes a rivalry with Finny will never occur. Gene began…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    He was fighting his savage heart and his jealousy and hatred towards Finny. Gene had to face the fact that he had purposely injured Finny even though Finny had not done anything wrong. Gene fought himself while debating if he should enlist or if he should stay at Devon School. His fear for losing and being looked down upon was another major enemy in Gene’s life at school.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, he plagues the friendship of Gene and Finny with competition. Through the glimpses of Gene’s memory, Knowles shows the intertwining of competiveness and friendship because of jealously and envy. In several episodes of Gene’s memory, like Finny and Gene’s arguments, the winter carnival, and the trial, Knowles expresses the difficulty of separating friendship from competitiveness. Throughout John Knowles’ novel, the friendship between Finny and Gene is jeopardized by their constant want to be better than the other, through competition.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the nonfiction novel "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, there are many themes. One theme that appears in every chapter is "war and rivalry". The novel "A Separate Peace" presents many examples of the theme "war and rivalry" like World War 2, enlisting for the war, and Gene and Finny's egos.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book, A Separate Peace, the main relationship of the novel is between the very charismatic, and humble Phineas (or Finny for short), and the jealous, overachiever, Gene. The book is mostly set at a boarding school named Devon, there he meets many friends including Finny, who which he becomes good friends with, and even creates a club with. There Friendship can be described with the quote, “Never waste jealousy on a real man: it is the imaginary man that supplants us all in the long run.” , which was said by William Shakespeare. When compared to the relationship between the two friends, it means that you should not be jealous of those who you trust, for your perception of them will become tainted. This happens quite a bit during the…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gene Forrester is a high school boy who goes through a war with jealousy. Jealousy, according to Wikipedia, is mental uneasiness from suspicion or fear of rivalry, unfaithfulness. Through the the novel "A Separate peace" by John Knowles, Gene meets Phineas who is going to be one of his best friends. This boy will not only start a war that gene will be fighting with himself, he will also stop it and free him of it. Gene starts a love hate relationship with Finny ( short for Phineas) with the hat gearing more toward jealousy. Finny Is good at sports and always gets away with things. Finny was always around gene and his smile never faded, he was good at making Gene feel like a brother to him, if not a great friend.…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, I have come to believe the central idea would be to speculate before you do, and the coming of age. Gene was always jealous of Finny, because Gene felt inferior to Finny. This led to Gene doing something horrific, without even thinking what…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out” (Walter Winchell). This quote is portrayed in the book of A Separate Peace through the characters of Gene and Phineas. Friendship is a common theme in the book of A Separate Peace. It causes conflict between characters and it also causes characters to change as a person throughout the book. Gene is the narrator of the book and he causes many conflicts with his best friend, Phineas or commonly called Finny, and also changes as a person throughout these conflicts. Over the course of the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester changes as a person due to certain thoughts, actions, and feelings; he influences relationships with people in a negative way, and teaches the importance of not being jealous towards others.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    | Gene is in denial attempting to make himself less guilty. He persuades his own conscious that jealousy towards his best friend is…

    • 6349 Words
    • 26 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    my studies” (45). Gene’s insecurity was the cause of Finny’s accident and Finny’s death, and as a result, Gene’s sense of peace. He no longer lived in anyone’s shadow, and was able to make peace with himself. At the conclusion of the novel, Gene states, “I never killed anyone and I never developed an intense hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed by enemy there” (196). The basic concept of…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays