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Friendship is a necessity throughout life whether it is during elementary school or during adulthood. Some friendships may last a while and some may last for a year; it depends on the strength of the bond and trust between the two people. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Finny, did not have a pure friendship because it was driven by envy and jealousy, they did not feel the same way towards each other and they did not accurately understand each other. First, I believe that Gene and Finny were not sincerely friends throughout the novel due to their relationship being driven by competitiveness. Along with the competitive atmosphere came jealously, envy and enmity. Gene created a rivalry between him and Finny. Since Finny was …show more content…
In the story, Finny created a counterpart between his athleticism and Gene’s academic abilities. Since sports came easy to Finny, he assumed that Gene was naturally intelligent and smart. Finny eventually figured out that this was not true and that his assumptions were incorrect; “‘Oh for God sake! You don’t know what I’m talking about. No, of course not. Not you…’ ‘I didn’t know you needed to study,’ he said simply, ‘I didn’t think you ever did. I thought it just came to you.’ It seemed that he had made some kind of parallel between my studies and his sports. He probably thought anything you were good at came without effort” (Knowles 57-58). Finny was unable to comprehend that some skills do not come naturally to people. Devoted friendships are a result of having an appreciation for each other. Finny and Gene did not have this nor did they truly know each other very well. A lack of understanding between the two of them provoked various disputes throughout the novel. If Gene and Finny were truly friends, misunderstandings would not have occurred since they would have acknowledged their
Starting at a young age, the main characters lives are intertwined. They form a special bond, which have both positive and negative affects on their relationship. At the time when Jim and Antonia are growing up, a rigid social structure exists in Nebraska. This social difference contributed to the creation and alteration of their friendship; in part, it is responsible for their behavior toward one another.
Finny and Gene were two very contrasting characters who both had their flaws, but in the end one was stronger than the other. On one end of the spectrum, Gene was associated with the traits of bitterness, hate, jealousy, secrecy, and he was a very loathing person. And on the other end, Finny was a light-hearted, good spirited, young, optimistic character. Gene throughout the book developed and changed extensively, and in the end came out the stronger character. Finny was definitely a crowd pleaser, but, Gene was the more solid and strong of the two because of his massive changes, making him a dynamic character.
“Will runs because running is its own excuse. Jim runs because something is up ahead of him. Yet, strangely, they do run together. So there they go, Jim running slower to stay with Will, Will running faster to stay with Jim, Jim breaking two windows in a haunted house because Will’s along, Will breaking one instead of none, because Jim was watching. God how we get our fingers in each other’s clay. That’s friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other.” (Bradbury
This quote shows their friendship. Gene didn’t understand why Finny talked him into things that he knew he shouldn't have done. Finny influenced Gene. This wasn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes Finny helped Gene overcome his fears and help him become more social. But sometimes, it was a bad thing, like jumping from the tree. Much of his hesitation over jumping has less to do with a fear of dying than a fear of subordination, of blindly following Finny's desires
...riendship that is rare and uncommon. One would literally runaway for one another’s safety and do things for each other that might cost them their lives. You might tell your friend that you would take a bullet for them any day, but do you really mean it? Without one another, Jim probably would still not have had his freedom and Huck might have been back with his abusive father or possibly in jail. Friends keep you going after you’ve been kicked down, and help you get back up. Twain from beginning to end exhibits the pure relationship between Jim and Huck in contrast to Huck’s own pap. The love and trust are beyond family. What people perceive from the society is smashed into pieces. The inspiring and unbelievable relationship urges audience to make decision out morality instead of social value. The true bond can amazingly happens, even during an era of racism.
The boys’ friendship changed mostly when Gene jostled the limb, causing Finny to break his leg. Gene felt that Finny was trying to be better than him and was jealous of Finny’s athletic abilities, causing him to act out. This event is such a big deal in the book because this is the big turning point in the boys’ relationship. After this incident, Gene was incredibly guilty and felt horrible. Finny was affected because not only was his leg shattered, he also had a feeling that Gene, his best friend at the time, had something to do with the injury. Even though this event is so important to the change, the friendship was changed during the mock trial as well. During the mock trial, Brinker had tried to get the truth out of the boys. His plan was successful, but not very good. When Finny finally realized that Gene was involved with his injury, he was instantly broken from the truth. This caused him running out of the room and shattering his leg the second time. After Finny registered this information, the reader comprehends that the boys’ friendship changes completely. When Gene snuck out to visit Finny after the trial, Finny was completely furious with him. The next couple of days, their relationships changes again and Gene and Finny find some sort of
In the novel, Gene fights a competitive war through ignorance and his mind’s creation, changing his endeavors and goals. Gene narrates this notion of mutual competition with Finny as when he is “more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even. But while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete, and when everything was thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me. The new attacks of studying were his emergency measures to save himself. I redoubled my effort” (Knowles 55). Here G...
Although Gene hurt Finny, he never questions Gene's loyalty and friendship. Showing how true friends will always believe and trust each other. During a school
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
With Gene as an inhibited, austere individual, and Finny as a zealous and sociable person, it is unlikely that the two would have been friends without an outside factor. This factor is mere exposure, meaning that Gene and Finny’s friendship is feasible due to “propinquity, the idea that one of the main determinants of interpersonal attraction is physical proximity” (Breines, “Love, Decoded”). Nonetheless, Gene’s journey begins when he follows Finny and jumps out of the tree into the river. Gene remarks, “We were best of friends at that moment” (Knowles, 18). The jump marks the beginning of Gene and Finny’s close friendship, with Finny becoming Gene’s mentor. As the two boys become closer, Gene learns to be more daring and spontaneous, often willingly following Finny on his adventurous escapades. In one instance, Finny randomly said, “Let’s go to the beach” (Knowles, 45). Even though going to the beach would cause the boys expulsion and required physical labor - the beach was hours away by bicycle - Gene still
Friendship is a bond that brings society together as a whole. The article, “Friendship in an Age of Economics” by Todd May describes six friendships that pertains to life. In the Of Mice and Men excerpt, the reader meets two characters, George and Lennie, and their friendship is shown. Of the six friendships, in “Friendship in an Age of Economics,” the true friendship, developed by Aristotle, is used in Of Mice and Men through George and Lennie’s relationship because of how they act towards each other, and how they take care of one another through many different ways.
Additionally, Gene justifies his hatred towards Finny by assuming Finny feels hatred towards him because of his excellence in academics. At this moment, Gene does not attempt to deny his shadow. Rather, he embraces his shadow completely, allowing it take him over and make false accusations against his own best friend. In Gene’s mind, “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitz all, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that explains his insistence that I share all his diversions.
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are two close friends, but are also very different from each other. While one lives in a well-respected family, the other is abandoned out onto the streets. While one boy is liked by almost everyone in the community, the other is looked down on by society. The only similarities the two companions have together are their bravery and courageousness, their strong belief in superstition, and their love of adventure. Despite their many differences, both boys know when to make the right decision, and both value friendship above all.
a best friend like Finny is an accolade and he should see it as an achievement. However, this transparent excuse of Gene's maturity at this point, portrays a very young, foolish, and selfish young man. "It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying that a little, which was perfectly normal."(Knowles p. 25) Here we see Gene as a simply confused young man who doesn't know the real value of friendship, and can't refuse a feeling of envy towards his so called "best friend.
Mark Twain illustrates the theme of friendship through the characters Huck and Jim. Their friendship was created when Huck and Jim were put together due to common circumstances that take place throughout the novel. The friendship that was formed was constantly undergoing changes. Towards the end of the book the relationship that once existed as a simple friendship grew in to a father and son relationship. Huck and Jim were tools that Twain used to show just how the theme of friendship developed.