The main character in my book, A Separate Peace, is Gene Forrester. At the beginning of the book, Gene is an innocent boy, going along with everything his roommate, the outgoing and energetic Phineas, says. “What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into doing stupid things like this?” (17) During this scene in the book, Gene is questioning his decision to jump out of a very tall tree, which he was convinced to climb by Phineas. As the story continues, Gene starts to believe that Phineas is trying to sabotage him. He thinks that Phineas is doing this so that he can be better at everything. However, in reality, Phineas is honestly just trying to have fun with Gene. “You and Phineas are even already… You did hate him for beating that school swimming record, but so what? He hated you for getting an A in every course but one last term. You would have had an A except for him… Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies!” (53) After this realization, Gene is bitter toward Phineas. When the chance arrives, Gene takes it. Furious and not thinking, Gene knocks Phineas out of the tree they are both standing in. “And then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me… and then he tumbled sideways.” (60) After this incident, Gene feels incredibly guilty. He tries to confess to Phineas, but Finny just thinks he is crazy. He really believes that he just slipped and fell. Finally, Phineas realizes the truth and becomes furious with Gene. However, when he runs away from Gene on his already broken leg, he falls and causes another fracture. “Then these separate sounds collided into the general tumult of his body falling clumsily down the white marble steps.” (177) While ... ... middle of paper ... ...re shuttled around America in pursuit… Most of us, it seemed, would be killed.” (138-139) This book is written in first person point of view. The main character, and narrator, of the book is Gene Forrester. I know this to be true because the story is told with words like “I” and “Me.” It also shares Gene’s thoughts with us and gives us his opinions. “I knew, perhaps alone knew, that this was false.” (73) There is almost no author bias about events. Gene does not express many opinions of important things in his life, like the enemies in WWII. “This enemy who never attacked that way- if he ever attacked at all; If he was indeed the enemy.” (204) The only major opinion expressed is that Phineas was not a very trustworthy and loyal person. This could be considered bias, as many students at Devon would most likely argue that Phineas was a kind person and a good friend.
In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the narrator, Gene Forrester struggles to earn and preserve a separate peace. The story takes place in a remote boarding school named Devon, in New Hampshire. While Gene and Finny are in school, World War II is taking place. The author clearly explains an important story about the jealousy between Gene and his best friend, Phineas. Gene suspects that Finny is trying to sabotage his grades, and Gene allows his jealousy to control his actions. Therefore, Gene misinterprets their relationship by thinking that they shared enmity towards each other, and this caused Gene to enter a world of jealousy and hatred, which ultimately leads to Finny’s death. By examining this jealousy, John Knowles
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides the reader with a character that possesses qualities both challenging to understand and difficult to endorse. These characteristics show themselves through the character’s desire and passion to pursue his dream. Jay Gatsby, an elusive, persuasive, and sometimes deceptive man displays such contrast in his moral foundation that leaves the reader questioning his true motives at nearly every action. There is an argument to be made that Gatsby is both great and not so great, making him the epitome of moral ambiguity. For example, Nick, another major character, who happens to be the narrator of the story, first describes Gatsby in the opening chapter of the novel as someone who he both
Phineas is a daring young individual that lives for the thrill of these such actions. His intention is not to sabotage his friend, because all he wants is to have an exceptional time. Gene uses this opportunity to let his conscience get the best of him and causes his friend to fall out of the tree. Phineas ventures out on the limb first, and when Gene steps out, his knees bend and he jostles the limb, causing Finny to lose his balance and fall onto the river bank below, shattering his leg. He feels remorse and regret after he causes this to happen, as Finny is not allowed to participate in sports anymore.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is blatantly evident, as his view of Gatsby’s actions seems to arbitrarily shift between disapproval and approval. Nick is an unreliable and hypocritical narrator who disputes his own background information and subjectively depicts Gatsby as a benevolent and charismatic host while ignoring his flaws and immorality from illegal activities. He refuses to seriously contemplate Gatsby’s negative attributes because of their strong mutual friendship and he is blinded by an unrealized faith in Gatsby. Furthermore, his multitude of discrepancies damage his ethos appeal and contribute to his lack of dependability.
When reflecting on his memories of the man he knew as Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway recalls the unique individual’s finest quality: “It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again” (Fitzgerald 2). Although Gatsby occasionally stepped off the straight and narrow, he never lost sight of his ultimate goal: Daisy’s love. Even when it seemed as though everything was working against him and that he would never regain his lost love, Gatsby kept going, knowing that the strength of his hope would see him through. His childlike determination, while ultimately his downfall, was what made Gatsby truly “great.”
...iendship between Gene and Phineas is amidst themes such as lack of reality, low maturity levels, and false appearances. Their relationship deteriorates and leads to death because they fail to learn these valuable life lessons. The purpose of Knowles’ novel is to exaggerate the life of two young boys to the extreme in order to reveal the unfortunate things that can occur in a relationship when these themes are not taken seriously. As stated in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, "It (A Separate Peace) can be viewed, for example, as a tale of Original Sin, with the Devon School as an Eden enclosing the great Tree of Knowledge through which humankind falls far from innocence but is redeemed by the suffering of a totally innocent one. It may also be approached as a reworking of the classic tale of the need to accept the potential evil within everyone and thus make peace with one’s self."
To start off, Nick Carraway is responsible for the death of Gatsby. During the harmonious relationship with Jordan Baker, Nick displays tolerance of Jordan Baker’s dishonest behavior and considers her dishonesty as incurable. Nick expresses his thought to Jordan by saying, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply ” (58). However, Nick’s forbearance of woman’s dishonesty develops, and his tolerance of dishonesty reaches an apex. Nick soon covers and hides the origin truth of Myrtle Wilson’s death, and he lets Gatsby assume the responsibility of Myrtle’s death. The next day, Nick sees the abandoned corpse of Jay Gatsby at his pool. After the death of Jay, Nick hides the secret of Myrtle’s death from Tom, but displays his disappointment toward Tom. If Nick had told anyone that Daisy was driving the car, George would not have shot Gatsby. Nick Carraway’s wrong decision that was not to tell anyone Daisy ran over Myrtle has led the Gatsby’s death. Moreover, Carraway’s wide tolerance has not prevented the death, but caused it. He is respo...
Insidiously and pervasively, Gene's original doubt creeps into his mind while at the beach, when Finny confesses that Gene is his best pal, yet Gene's hesitation holds him back, stating that “perhaps [he] was stopped by the level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth” (50). By pondering his motivations, Gene reveals that he truly does not believe that Finny considers him his best friend; Gene doubts Finny because he believes that hate forms the cornerstone of the relationship, which in turn leaves no room for love. Instead, Gene believes the confession of friendship serves the purpose of disillusioning him, that, as a conniver, Finny wants Gene to falsely trust him. Through a lack of communication, neither boy truly knows where they stand as a friendship based on trust and mutual affection fosters no home for envy, and yet Gene believes that Finny is his adversary. Finally, Gene ponders how he “might have asked, 'Who are you then?'” while realizing that Finny cares more about him than the fake rivalry; as Finny's personality seems to suddenly veer away from competitive, Gene feels he “was facing a total stranger” (50). Because Finny fears destroying the friendship by addressing its problems, he never empathizes with Gene and therefore does not see Gene's deluded misinterpretation of the association or the hatred that he fosters towards Phineas. Finny throws Gene off guard as he expressed his true feelings because, fed by doubt, Gene does not believe that Finny truly cares for him. Again, Gene's fears escape his mind as he exclaims “to drag me down too!” (57) when Finny talks of how he could have reached out to Gene in the moments before his fall. In his mind, Gene molds Phineas into a resentful person, so he automatically assumes the worst with Finny's intentions. Like an animal of prey, Gene retreats suddenly when
Knowles deliberately juxtaposes Gene’s social awkwardness to Finny’s natural athleticism and charisma to suggest an imbalance of power between the two boys. Set in Devon School, described as “very athletic” (Knowles 13), Finny, “an extraordinary athlete…the best athlete in the school,” (16) establishes himself to be popular, tilting the balance of power. Stating there is no one “in this school – in this world – whom [he] could trust” (53), Knowles introduces Gene as a distrustful individual. Gene’s hesitant nature lets the animated Finny take charge of their relationship. To create power imbalance, the author purposefully creates Gene and Finny with wildly different personalities.
Every person feels rivalry or competition towards others at some point in their lives. This rivalry greatly affects our ability to understand others, and this eventually results in paranoia and hostility. It is a part of human nature, that people coldly drive ahead for their gain alone. Man's inhumanity towards man is a way for people to protect themselves from having pain inflicted on them by others, and achieving their goals and desires without the interference of others. This concept of man's inhumanity to man is developed in A Separate Peace as the primary conflict in the novel centres on the main character, Gene, and his inner-battles with feelings of jealousy, paranoia, and inability to understand his relationship with his best friend Phineas. Competition is further demonstrated by the occurrence of World War II. It is shown that, "There were few relationships among us (the students) at Devon not based on rivalry." (p. 37) It is this rivalry and competition between the boys at Devon that ripped their friendships apart.
A persona is a mask shown to the outside world developed in relation to consciousness, to hide the darkest aspects of a psyche, known as a shadow, behind it. Shadows contrast personas by holding undesirable and unwanted memories and behaviors, but the dark side of an individual must be accepted for the individual to fully understand oneself. In the coming of age novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, narrator Gene Forrester returns to New Hampshire to visit Devon School, where he studied fifteen years ago just as World War II had begun to unfold. The narrative shifts back fifteen years ago to Gene’s days at Devon School with his best friend, Phineas, also known as Finny, as he recalls memorable events from his past. Gene’s persona and shadow
One of the events that Buddy and Skye’s love causes, is Buddy getting in trouble with his parents. At dinner one night, Buddy keeps tell his family about how wonderful Skye’s house is. His father gets annoyed and asks him to step outside for a talk. Once outside, Buddy’s dad starts to beat him. “What is was a punch to my neck, so hard I fell down from the weight of it.” Although he knows what will happen when he goes out with Skye, he still goes out.
Analysis: This quote is based on the theme of envy. It is clear that Gene feels that Phineas can get away with anything. The reader can tell that Gene hate him because of this.
Gene is a well-educated, athletic individual. He takes his school work seriously and keeps to himself, meaning he doesn’t favor standing out or being in the spotlight. He is a follower, especially when it comes to his best friend, Phineas. Throughout the book, he often compares himself to Phineas and talks about how perfect Finny is.
Competition and rivalry have the ability to make people shine and accomplish things they never thought possible, and the ability to bring a person’s dark side and get them to do terrible things. Phineas and Gene’s friendship is viewed very differently by each of them. Where Phineas sees Gene as his best friend Gene sees Phineas as a competitor. Gene sees him as someone trying to keep him from being successful in school. This warped view of their relationship is the cause of many of the eventual problems of the novel and arguably the death of Phineas.