Betrayal of Deep Friendships and the Consequences
Betrayal of Deep Friendships and the Consequences
“Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love” (John Le Carre). Betrayal is a huge part of Gene and Amirs’ lives in A Separate Peace and in The Kite Runner. They are both pushed to do things they normally wouldn’t do because of the feelings of guilt from betraying their best friends. They betray the people closest to them, the only people who truly care for them. The circumstances and outcomes of both books are shockingly similar and lead both to betrayal of best friends which leads to earth shattering remorse and guilt, then redemption. Both books offer a glimpse at betrayal, the pains of war and the impact of guilt.
In the two books, there are many examples of betrayal leading to horrendous things, and situations where one choice snowballs into a thunderous conclusion. In A Separate Peace, Gene betrays Finny, again and again. It starts with one big betrayal which then led to many others. Gene tried to kill Finny, he “... took a step towards [Finny] and then [his] knees bent and [he] jounced the limb” (60). With that one simple movement, that one choice, Gene almost ended Finny’s life. He betrayed Finny’s trust and friendship, and because of that one betrayal, Gene ended up betraying Finny’s trust time and time again to try and cover his first betrayal. He started to tell Finny the truth about his attempted murder when he stopped. He decided he “... would have to back out of it, [he] would have to disown it” (70). Gene decided that Finny didn’t want to hear the truth and couldn’t bear the truth, so he never told Finny. He again, betrayed Finny’s trust. When Finny later found out the truth, he was so shocked and distraught that he ran out of the room and fell down the stairs, breaking his leg and eventually dying. Gene’s choice to betray Finny led to many more betrayals and eventually Finny’s untimely death. In The Kite Runner, there is a similar type of
“Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love” (John Le Carre). Betrayal is a huge part of Gene and Amirs’ lives in A Separate Peace and in The Kite Runner. They are both pushed to do things they normally wouldn’t do because of the feelings of guilt from betraying their best friends. They betray the people closest to them, the only people who truly care for them. The circumstances and outcomes of both books are shockingly similar and lead both to betrayal of best friends which leads to earth shattering remorse and guilt, then redemption. Both books offer a glimpse at betrayal, the pains of war and the impact of guilt.
In the two books, there are many examples of betrayal leading to horrendous things, and situations where one choice snowballs into a thunderous conclusion. In A Separate Peace, Gene betrays Finny, again and again. It starts with one big betrayal which then led to many others. Gene tried to kill Finny, he “... took a step towards [Finny] and then [his] knees bent and [he] jounced the limb” (60). With that one simple movement, that one choice, Gene almost ended Finny’s life. He betrayed Finny’s trust and friendship, and because of that one betrayal, Gene ended up betraying Finny’s trust time and time again to try and cover his first betrayal. He started to tell Finny the truth about his attempted murder when he stopped. He decided he “... would have to back out of it, [he] would have to disown it” (70). Gene decided that Finny didn’t want to hear the truth and couldn’t bear the truth, so he never told Finny. He again, betrayed Finny’s trust. When Finny later found out the truth, he was so shocked and distraught that he ran out of the room and fell down the stairs, breaking his leg and eventually dying. Gene’s choice to betray Finny led to many more betrayals and eventually Finny’s untimely death. In The Kite Runner, there is a similar type of