A Separate Peace
In John Knowle's A Seperate Peace , the main characters, Gene and Finny have a unique friendship that transforms throughout chapter four. According to Webter's dictionary the word "friendly" means not hostile; amicable. One could assume that a friend would contain these characteristics of a friend. However, their perfect friendship slowly transforms. As a result, of these changes Gene comes to the conclusion that he and Finny are in a constant competition. What Gene begins by presenting as a perfect friendship soon emerges as nothing of the sort. His account of certain actions, along with statements that seem insincere, soon betray his true feelings. Thus Gene initially feels that Finny resents him for his academic success. The reader quickly comes to the understanding, however, that it is Gene, in fact, who resents Finny. He resents Finny all the more for Finny's lack of resentment toward him. It is becuase of this constant competition and jeously that Gene has guilt, insanity and the loss of a best friend arise. In chapter 4, Gene and Finny get back from a forbidden trip to the beach (Gene is normally a conformist so disobeying the rules is hinting a change in behavior). Finny
and Gene had stayed overnight and slept at the beach under the stars and the following morning Finny confessed to Gene what a wonderful friend he was and how he considered Gene his best friend. Gene and Finny had a wonderful time but the day they went home Gene had a test. Gene had obviously was not prepared for his exam due to the fact that he was at the beach. When Gene and Finny got back from the beach, Gene received his first F ever on a test. Receiving an F on this test triggers a thought in Gene's mind that Finny took him to the beach in order to keep him from studying and recieving a good grade. In his mind he also felt that Finny telling him that he was his best friend was a cover up in order for him not to suspect him of trying to sabotage his chances at being number one in his class. One would think that because Gene is jealous of Finny's athletic success Gene feels that Finny is jealous of his academic success. Regardless of the nature of this act, it is obvious that in A Separate Peace, Gene's thoughts and behavior in this chapter create a problem of sympathy that persists throughout the novel. His need to be better than Finny and this constant jelousy leeds to his insanity, the loss of Finny, and this tremendous guilt. Despite his sympathetic feelings he has, Gene
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 875
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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