Personification Of Love And Jealousy

If one were to ask an individual their personal opinion of what defines love and jealousy, the individual being questioned may not know how to answer, as it is difficult to pinpoint the exact definition of these two complex emotions. Love and jealousy are two fairly distinct emotions, and comparing the two would be similar to comparing chalk and cheese. Trees are the very personification of these two emotions, love and jealousy. The separate personification of love would be that of a mighty white oak tree. White oaks have a deep root system, can live for a few hundred years, and have a unique cellular structure, making it rot resistant. However, the personification of jealousy would best be described as a cottonwood. Cottonwoods have very
Gene said,“I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little,” (Knowles, 9). Gene tells of how there is no harm in envying your friend, that part is true, yet Gene lets these emotions fester within his mind letting the envy develop into jealousy. Envy and jealousy are two different things, as envy is the feeling of wanting something someone else has, and envy involves two people. Jealousy, in its most common case, involves three people, and is a feeling of wanting something that two individuals may have with one another. Gene here feels envy, but soon that envy develops into jealousy as he grows weary of others being with Finny deeper into the novel. Gene said,“Was he trying to impress me or something? Not tell anybody? When he had broken a school record without a day of practice? I knew he was serious about it, so I didn’t tell anybody. Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it,” (Knowles, 19). This quote suggests that Gene was incredibly envious of how Finny was able to brush off achievements and act as though they were nothing. These feelings of envy that Gene is experiencing add to his desire to be
Now this chapter isn’t jealousy being experienced in the moment, but more so jealousy being brought up and coming to terms with these corrupt, rotten feelings. In chapter 12, Gene enter the infirmary to visit Finny, where he is accused of trying to break Finny even further. The two have a discussion later within the chapter about the jouncing of the limb. Gene tries to describe to Finny why he did it, but trying to describe why was like trying to describe the taste of salt. He knew the experience but couldn't find words to prove why and how he did it. Gene said to Finny, “No, I don’t know how to show you, how can I show you, Finny? Tell me how to show you. It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that’s all it was,” (Knowles, 104). This single line shows how Gene tried to mask his jealousy but reacted on blind impulses. Jealousy had rotted his mind and the purities of it, causing him to act blindly and shake the limb him and his friend were standing