Interdependance (For A Seperate Piece by John Knowles)

A detailed Summary of Interdependance (For A Seperate Piece by John Knowles)

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, two school-aged friends, Phineas and Gene, go through many trials and tribulations together that mold Gene from a very dependent person to a very independent person. During World War II, Phineas (Finny) and Gene are juniors at a New England prep school called Devon. Many of their friends are being drafted into the war. However, they are unaware of the threat of enlistment, thinking the war is a big joke. During the summer, they spend much of their time together at the school. During this time, Gene wants to stay in his room and study while Finny wants to go out for a swim in the river. Gene eventually goes with him even though he does not want to. Once they reach the river, Finny finds a large tree, climbs to the top branch, and jumps out of the tree. Afterwards, he talks Gene into doing the same. Reluctantly, Gene jumps out of the tree to prove himself to Finny. Afterwards, Finny tells Gene that he has a "tendency to back away from things" when Finny isn't around (10). Gene, seconds later, declares, "I never backed away from anything in my life," but then he admits that he feels bad because Finny's statement is "so true" (10). This shows his dependence because he is actually admittin

g that he would not have gone along unless Finny had told him to do so. It also shows that if Finny had not tricked him into jumping, he would have never done it in the first place. He does not want to face the truth of his fears, relying on Finny to make important decisions for him, like whether or not to go with him and whether or not to jump out of the tree. This is because Gene feels unsure of his own decisions. Later, as they are climbing the tree again, Gene thinks to himself, "I began climbing the rungs, slightly reassured by having Finny right behind me" (24). Gene's thoughts show that he is depending on Finny to help him in case something were to go wrong, like him falling. If he were to fall, Finny would help catch him and save him. It clearly illustrates Gene's dependence on Finny during the summer. However, an event occurs that causes Genes dependence on Finny to lessen substantially.

Finny and Gene, while walking to class, are ushered into the auditorium. There, they are confronted about what happened when Finny fell out of the tree. In disgust, Finny runs out of the auditorium and breaks his leg again falling down the auditorium stairs. Days later, in the course of trying to set the bone, he dies. However, at that moment, Gene realizes that he cannot rely on Finny any longer and finally becomes fully independent. An example of his independence is at Finny funeral, where Gene states that "I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral..." (186). This is evidence that he has realized that a piece of him (Finny) has died and it is a piece he will have to live without. He also realized that that when Finny died, his dependence on Finny died also. An example of his full independence is where Gene states that he has joined the Navy. This is a

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Approximate Word count = 1207
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English