Definition Essay On Desire And Jealousy
Desire. It burns like an uncontainable fire, engulfing those in its path. Society bows down to desire for the individuals in society are driven by the desire to succeed, driven by the hope that they can be better than whom they were made to be. In a society in which men are merely pawns in a larger game of war, it is the desire to be special that keeps them going. But when desire takes over the brain, it provides the illusion of perfection. It turns a person against the world, for they believe they are better than it. But when things do not go as planned, and someone else manages to become special; desire turns into rage, into jealousy. A person’s jealousy towards those superior causes them to create an enemy. The enemy soon becomes a scapegoat
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for all of life’s problems and eventually human nature creates a war. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles friendship is demolished by jealousy. Gene and Phineas are the best of friends, who manage to escape the destruction of war and in place, go to Devon for summer school. However, one can never rid themselves of what causes war. Genes desire to be special quickly transfigures into jealousy after realizes Phineas is an amazing athlete. Soon this jealousy, leads to a rash decision that changes the boys’ lives forever. Knowles uses the characters and their actions to symbolize impulsive human nature and its consequences. Gene is raised a scholar, a boy with a plan to study and work hard. However, these plans were interrupted when he became best friends with his exceptionally talented roommate Phineas. Soon, Gene’s life takes a turn for the liberating route for he is soon exposed to the ideology of carefree fun and games. Yet the mindset of the war makes its way into Devon, infecting Gene. The once noncompetitive Gene soon starts suffering from insecurity and jealousy of Phineas (pg.20). He begins to see Phineas’s captivating charisma as a negative and soon, desperately wants his friend to fail at something. The desire for Phineas to fail represents Gene’s personal desire to succeed. For Gene realizes he can never and will never be as talented as Phineas, he unknowingly begins to pick out every success and failure Phineas has. After an incident in which Gene failed an exam, he leads himself to believe it was Phineas fault; for it was Phineas who told him to relax and have fun. As Gene sates, “You hated him for beating the swim record, and he probably hates you for getting and A on every exam, but one…And that was because of him…” (pg. 28). The emotion Gene feels symbolizes the beginning of every war. Inadequacy leads to the creation of an enemy. Gene saw Phineas as a god and desperately wanted to humanize him to make himself feel better. Gene’s rage represents the inner demon in every man. It is this same demon and rage that leads to war, which happens in the novel when Gene impulse of anger decides to shake a branch Phineas was standing on. The result? An atomic bomb, changing the life of both the boys and their impulses. Gene and Phineas transfigure into a different people after the rash actions that were made on the tree. Due to Gene’s actions, Phineas becomes forever crippled and his life of sports ends. Gene and Phineas soon begin a life of codependency. Soon, Gene begins to give up himself for Phineas, his studies and dreams no longer matter to him anymore. As Phineas states, “I am going to train you for the Olympics…” (pg. 69). Gene did so without complaint, and tried for the sake of his best friend, the friend would never run again. What Gene does represents his guilt and how he wishes to fix what he has done. Since he can never do so he decides to live Phineas’s dreams for him, so his friend will at least have something to hold on to. Phineas on the other hand lives in denial about what happened on the tree, he forces himself to believe the friend he loves would never do such a thing. In the novel, Phineas mentions how he loves winter and therefore, winter must love him back (pg.64). Gene told Phineas many times how if he loved something, it doesn’t mean it would love him back. However, Phineas refused to believe so; thinking love would fix all problems. The act represents how Phineas is willing love Gene unconditionally; regardless of what Gene does to him. Nevertheless, love can make one fragile. Phineas was perceived as the jock, a carefree young lad amidst the summers in Devon.
Yet inside he was something more. His world revolved around sports, and he perceived life as one big game a game in which everybody wins. He was naïve and unaware of the jealousy he sparked in others; for he believed that everybody was special and equal. Phineas was a living epitome of boyhood, innocent and unaware of how his peers were taking a step towards manhood. As Phineas states after beating a swimming record, “I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I can. I do not want to do it in public…’ (pg.22). Phineas symbolizes what mankind should be, pure and not doing everything for self-gain. He was the only boy on campus who fearlessly expressed emotion (pg.25). However while Phineas’s views were ideal, he was unfit for the war, unfit for the world because of them. Phineas represented everything the war suppressed, benevolence; and his kindness caused him to be weak. He would either get corrupted, or would be unable to survive in the real world. In the novel, Phineas tragically experience the later (pg. 116). He died while running away from the truth, from the fact that his best friend had tried to hurt him. Phineas’s death symbolizes the end of boyhood for now there was nobody in Devon left to carry his childish
spirit.
Knowles weaves a story portraying the image of a separate peace. Devon was portrayed as an escape from the war, a safe haven where boys can be boys. But one can never escape from the human impulses that cause war, and Gene fought the war, both with himself, and with Phineas. Knowles uses the characters thoughts and actions to portray the consequences that come with impulse and rash decisions. Proving, that war is within everybody and society is trained from early on to be a solider, to put themselves first, to be competitive, and to make sure the world knows of their own achievements. Life is a race, one where people rush for prize, and those unwilling to accept that fail. Phineas died, not only from injury, but for he was unfit for society. He was too kind, too carefree, and cared little for a tittle or position. He was a boy who saw everybody as equal and never could sense, or accept the idea of malice. His ideology made him weak, a tool for the world, one in which he would be played as the fool he is. He died a boy, for that’s all he would ever be, he was too good for the world of men, one that is a savage race to the top. A race to be the perfect solider.
for all of life’s problems and eventually human nature creates a war. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles friendship is demolished by jealousy. Gene and Phineas are the best of friends, who manage to escape the destruction of war and in place, go to Devon for summer school. However, one can never rid themselves of what causes war. Genes desire to be special quickly transfigures into jealousy after realizes Phineas is an amazing athlete. Soon this jealousy, leads to a rash decision that changes the boys’ lives forever. Knowles uses the characters and their actions to symbolize impulsive human nature and its consequences. Gene is raised a scholar, a boy with a plan to study and work hard. However, these plans were interrupted when he became best friends with his exceptionally talented roommate Phineas. Soon, Gene’s life takes a turn for the liberating route for he is soon exposed to the ideology of carefree fun and games. Yet the mindset of the war makes its way into Devon, infecting Gene. The once noncompetitive Gene soon starts suffering from insecurity and jealousy of Phineas (pg.20). He begins to see Phineas’s captivating charisma as a negative and soon, desperately wants his friend to fail at something. The desire for Phineas to fail represents Gene’s personal desire to succeed. For Gene realizes he can never and will never be as talented as Phineas, he unknowingly begins to pick out every success and failure Phineas has. After an incident in which Gene failed an exam, he leads himself to believe it was Phineas fault; for it was Phineas who told him to relax and have fun. As Gene sates, “You hated him for beating the swim record, and he probably hates you for getting and A on every exam, but one…And that was because of him…” (pg. 28). The emotion Gene feels symbolizes the beginning of every war. Inadequacy leads to the creation of an enemy. Gene saw Phineas as a god and desperately wanted to humanize him to make himself feel better. Gene’s rage represents the inner demon in every man. It is this same demon and rage that leads to war, which happens in the novel when Gene impulse of anger decides to shake a branch Phineas was standing on. The result? An atomic bomb, changing the life of both the boys and their impulses. Gene and Phineas transfigure into a different people after the rash actions that were made on the tree. Due to Gene’s actions, Phineas becomes forever crippled and his life of sports ends. Gene and Phineas soon begin a life of codependency. Soon, Gene begins to give up himself for Phineas, his studies and dreams no longer matter to him anymore. As Phineas states, “I am going to train you for the Olympics…” (pg. 69). Gene did so without complaint, and tried for the sake of his best friend, the friend would never run again. What Gene does represents his guilt and how he wishes to fix what he has done. Since he can never do so he decides to live Phineas’s dreams for him, so his friend will at least have something to hold on to. Phineas on the other hand lives in denial about what happened on the tree, he forces himself to believe the friend he loves would never do such a thing. In the novel, Phineas mentions how he loves winter and therefore, winter must love him back (pg.64). Gene told Phineas many times how if he loved something, it doesn’t mean it would love him back. However, Phineas refused to believe so; thinking love would fix all problems. The act represents how Phineas is willing love Gene unconditionally; regardless of what Gene does to him. Nevertheless, love can make one fragile. Phineas was perceived as the jock, a carefree young lad amidst the summers in Devon.
Yet inside he was something more. His world revolved around sports, and he perceived life as one big game a game in which everybody wins. He was naïve and unaware of the jealousy he sparked in others; for he believed that everybody was special and equal. Phineas was a living epitome of boyhood, innocent and unaware of how his peers were taking a step towards manhood. As Phineas states after beating a swimming record, “I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I can. I do not want to do it in public…’ (pg.22). Phineas symbolizes what mankind should be, pure and not doing everything for self-gain. He was the only boy on campus who fearlessly expressed emotion (pg.25). However while Phineas’s views were ideal, he was unfit for the war, unfit for the world because of them. Phineas represented everything the war suppressed, benevolence; and his kindness caused him to be weak. He would either get corrupted, or would be unable to survive in the real world. In the novel, Phineas tragically experience the later (pg. 116). He died while running away from the truth, from the fact that his best friend had tried to hurt him. Phineas’s death symbolizes the end of boyhood for now there was nobody in Devon left to carry his childish
spirit.
Knowles weaves a story portraying the image of a separate peace. Devon was portrayed as an escape from the war, a safe haven where boys can be boys. But one can never escape from the human impulses that cause war, and Gene fought the war, both with himself, and with Phineas. Knowles uses the characters thoughts and actions to portray the consequences that come with impulse and rash decisions. Proving, that war is within everybody and society is trained from early on to be a solider, to put themselves first, to be competitive, and to make sure the world knows of their own achievements. Life is a race, one where people rush for prize, and those unwilling to accept that fail. Phineas died, not only from injury, but for he was unfit for society. He was too kind, too carefree, and cared little for a tittle or position. He was a boy who saw everybody as equal and never could sense, or accept the idea of malice. His ideology made him weak, a tool for the world, one in which he would be played as the fool he is. He died a boy, for that’s all he would ever be, he was too good for the world of men, one that is a savage race to the top. A race to be the perfect solider.