A separate peace: how Gene changed 
13 January 10, 2015
Gene’s Change Gene Forrester was a key character from John Knowles’s A Separate Peace. He was a dynamic character who changed throughout the novel in various methods. Gene was a boy who was jealous of his best friend Phineas but ended up becoming Phineas. He went from a representation of war, to a symbol to peace, and from dependent of Phineas to an independent young man.
In the beginning of the story, Gene was jealous of his best friend. He of envious of how attractive, athletic and how Phineas can get away with anything. “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.”(Page 9 online) That feeling of jealousy soon became stronger and stronger and thinking of Phineas getting caught pleased him. “This time he wasn't going to get away with it. I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that.” (Pg. 10 online) This envious sensation even led to thinking Phineas was trying to ruin his grades, by distracting him, and that Phineas was jealous of Gene too. However, after confronting Phineas, Gene realizes Phineas never meant to hurt him, and that feeling made Gene want to be like Phineas. That’s exactly what happened. At first, Gene simply put on Finny’s infamous pink shirt to feel at peace, “I never forgot, and that evening I put on his cordovan shoes, his pants, and I looked for and finally found his pink shirt, neatly laundered in a drawer.” (Pg. 29 online) Later on, Gene actually became Phineas, from thinking like Phineas to feeling like Finny’s funeral was his own. “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case. “ (Pg. 104 online) It shows the revolution of Gene’s feelings towards
Gene’s Change Gene Forrester was a key character from John Knowles’s A Separate Peace. He was a dynamic character who changed throughout the novel in various methods. Gene was a boy who was jealous of his best friend Phineas but ended up becoming Phineas. He went from a representation of war, to a symbol to peace, and from dependent of Phineas to an independent young man.
In the beginning of the story, Gene was jealous of his best friend. He of envious of how attractive, athletic and how Phineas can get away with anything. “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.”(Page 9 online) That feeling of jealousy soon became stronger and stronger and thinking of Phineas getting caught pleased him. “This time he wasn't going to get away with it. I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that.” (Pg. 10 online) This envious sensation even led to thinking Phineas was trying to ruin his grades, by distracting him, and that Phineas was jealous of Gene too. However, after confronting Phineas, Gene realizes Phineas never meant to hurt him, and that feeling made Gene want to be like Phineas. That’s exactly what happened. At first, Gene simply put on Finny’s infamous pink shirt to feel at peace, “I never forgot, and that evening I put on his cordovan shoes, his pants, and I looked for and finally found his pink shirt, neatly laundered in a drawer.” (Pg. 29 online) Later on, Gene actually became Phineas, from thinking like Phineas to feeling like Finny’s funeral was his own. “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case. “ (Pg. 104 online) It shows the revolution of Gene’s feelings towards