Character Analysis: A Separate Peace By John Knowles
Gene’s Personal War and Separate Peace
A Separate Peace coincidently takes place during World War II, which is one of the deadliest bloodbaths in America. In addition to the outside war, John Knowles does not fail to recognize the struggle Gene Forrester has faced in order to find his ‘separate peace’. Several dynamic characters went through a drastic change throughout the novel; but Gene’s personal conflict was the most difficult to overcome, partly because his archenemy and best friend happened to be the same person.
World War II is comparable to many of the conflicts that the students faced at Devon. Phineas for example, tended to be naïve to the fact that evil did exist around him, which is the flaw that lead to his tragic death in the …show more content…
He is envious of Finny’s control at Devon, and has a secret rivalry against him even though he knows that Finny does not feel the same way. Gene says that “there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this (Knowles 52).” Gene says this because he realizes that Finny was not challenging his abilities, but only trying to help him as a friend. This angers Gene because he has challenged Finny ever since he became acquainted with him. Gene wanted Finny to be jealous of his academic progress, but he was not. As the novel progressed, you see Gene and Finny develop a different type of relationship towards each other. The relationship was more dependent, physically and psychologically. Gene never leaves Finny’s side, and eventually begins living through him by fulfilling the dreams Finny had of going to the Olympics. They refuse to grow up and face the realities of the war. It wasn’t until Phineas passes that Gene acknowledged his attachment to Finny. He says that he feels as though Finny’s funeral was his own (184). Gene was mainly battling against himself to find his true identity. He was confused and did not know how to go about his life without guidance from Finny. Once Phineas passes however, Gene uses that as an opportunity to discover himself and fulfill
A Separate Peace coincidently takes place during World War II, which is one of the deadliest bloodbaths in America. In addition to the outside war, John Knowles does not fail to recognize the struggle Gene Forrester has faced in order to find his ‘separate peace’. Several dynamic characters went through a drastic change throughout the novel; but Gene’s personal conflict was the most difficult to overcome, partly because his archenemy and best friend happened to be the same person.
World War II is comparable to many of the conflicts that the students faced at Devon. Phineas for example, tended to be naïve to the fact that evil did exist around him, which is the flaw that lead to his tragic death in the …show more content…
He is envious of Finny’s control at Devon, and has a secret rivalry against him even though he knows that Finny does not feel the same way. Gene says that “there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this (Knowles 52).” Gene says this because he realizes that Finny was not challenging his abilities, but only trying to help him as a friend. This angers Gene because he has challenged Finny ever since he became acquainted with him. Gene wanted Finny to be jealous of his academic progress, but he was not. As the novel progressed, you see Gene and Finny develop a different type of relationship towards each other. The relationship was more dependent, physically and psychologically. Gene never leaves Finny’s side, and eventually begins living through him by fulfilling the dreams Finny had of going to the Olympics. They refuse to grow up and face the realities of the war. It wasn’t until Phineas passes that Gene acknowledged his attachment to Finny. He says that he feels as though Finny’s funeral was his own (184). Gene was mainly battling against himself to find his true identity. He was confused and did not know how to go about his life without guidance from Finny. Once Phineas passes however, Gene uses that as an opportunity to discover himself and fulfill