his other friend, Phineas, based on competitiveness. There are many themes presented in

the novel. Some of these are maturing from adolescence, destruction from

competitiveness, and separating fantasy and reality. One of the novel's major themes is

that relationships provide moral values, which molds a person into what they become in

the future. This idea is shown through the pessimistic to optimistic views of life,

naturalist behavior to independent behavior, poor decision maker to an astute decision

maker, and knowledge analyzing capabilities gains from a child to an adult.

The pessimistic views as a child improves to optimistic views as an adult. Gene

states that there is no rivalry between Phineas and him (51), right before he realizes there

is one on top of the tree. He believes that Phineas was a threat, who wants him to fail at

being valedictorian, therefore Gene jounces the limb to get rid of him. Rather than

looking at Phineas as a leader, who wants to lead him to victory, he looks at him

pessimistically and believes he is a threat. Then in the end of the novel, Gene con

to the most significant areas of the school, where he wants to go (193).The conversion

didn't become disloyal and leave his father became angry, at the fact that he didn't betray

Gene didn't fully comprehend the knowledge or situations placed in front of him

Some common words found in the essay are:
John Knowles, Phineas Gene, Prodigal's Son, Gene Hadley, Gene Phineas, Separate Peace, poor decision, decision maker, novel gene, independent behavior, adult gene, optimistic views, example theme, Relationship Values, poor decision maker, behavior independent, maker astute, adult gene jumps, moral values, decision maker astute, knowledge analyzing capabilities, astute decision maker,
Approximate Word count = 874
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)