Gene And Finny In A Separate Peace
"Nothing baffles the schemes of evil people so much as the calm composure of great souls," - Gabriel de Riqueti. He said this during the beginning of the French Revolution and was most likely talking about the evil injustices of the government. How ever this is true also when talking about Gene and Finny, Gene is consistently trying and failing to find fault in his flawless best friend Phineas. This begs the question of is Gene truly evil? In the novel A Separate Peace, Gene is inherently evil, because he is mis-trusting, self- centered, and cannot bring himself to accept the fact that there is such a thing as a true friendship. The fact the Gene is mis-trusting is evident throughout the book. After being best friends and roommates for several
years Gene suddenly suspects Finny of keeping him from his studies. In addition, he refuses to take even his best friend at face value, but rather questions everyone's motives including Finny's. This questioning of his friend's sincerity is what brought him to the conclusion that Phineas was trying to keep him from getting good grades, which eventually lead to him jouncing Finny out of a tree. Gene's suspicion began to surface when he says, "What was I doing up here anyway?... Was he getting some time of hold over me?" (Knowles 32). However this trust issues were not his only problem. Gene is also very self- centered, he believes that everything that people do has something to do with him. He goes to the point of destroying his friendships in order to get better grades. The best example of his selfishness is when his guilt from what happened in the tree was tearing him apart so he feels he must confess to make himself feel better, even when he knows it will hurt Finny. "It struck me then that I was injuring him again. It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before" (Knowles 75). The one aspect of Gene that made him truly evil, was that he couldn't accept the idea of a true friendship. Even when Finny told him how much Gene meant to him, Gene couldn't return the favor, he couldn't understand how someone could really feel this way. So in response he told himself that Finny was out to get him. This proves that ignorance is the root of all evil, as the great philosopher Plato once said. By the time he realized the truth it was too late, Finny was gone. Often people find out the truth when it's too late, and this is the main principle that is seen in this novel. For the greater portion of their friendship Gene suspected Finny to be treacherous and seeking to destroy him academically. Out of this falsehood Gene acted on rash instincts which he lived to regret. Because Gene is selfish, distrustful, and lacks faith in friendship, he is inherently evil.
years Gene suddenly suspects Finny of keeping him from his studies. In addition, he refuses to take even his best friend at face value, but rather questions everyone's motives including Finny's. This questioning of his friend's sincerity is what brought him to the conclusion that Phineas was trying to keep him from getting good grades, which eventually lead to him jouncing Finny out of a tree. Gene's suspicion began to surface when he says, "What was I doing up here anyway?... Was he getting some time of hold over me?" (Knowles 32). However this trust issues were not his only problem. Gene is also very self- centered, he believes that everything that people do has something to do with him. He goes to the point of destroying his friendships in order to get better grades. The best example of his selfishness is when his guilt from what happened in the tree was tearing him apart so he feels he must confess to make himself feel better, even when he knows it will hurt Finny. "It struck me then that I was injuring him again. It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before" (Knowles 75). The one aspect of Gene that made him truly evil, was that he couldn't accept the idea of a true friendship. Even when Finny told him how much Gene meant to him, Gene couldn't return the favor, he couldn't understand how someone could really feel this way. So in response he told himself that Finny was out to get him. This proves that ignorance is the root of all evil, as the great philosopher Plato once said. By the time he realized the truth it was too late, Finny was gone. Often people find out the truth when it's too late, and this is the main principle that is seen in this novel. For the greater portion of their friendship Gene suspected Finny to be treacherous and seeking to destroy him academically. Out of this falsehood Gene acted on rash instincts which he lived to regret. Because Gene is selfish, distrustful, and lacks faith in friendship, he is inherently evil.