A Separate Peace

643 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Friendship as the main theme in a separate peace

Phineas, a main character in “A Separate Peace”, was a very athletic, cheerful young man. He was a friend through and through, and he was a buddy to everyone around him. That isn’t the only thing Phineas was. Phineas represented an innocence beyond this world that no normal human can find. He had a sincerity that was infused with all his words and a joyfulness that could not be dampened. Finny’s innocence is personified multitudes of times throughout the book. He shows great sincerity towards Gene when he tells Gene that Gene is his best friend on their day trip to the beach. (23) Finny’s unhindered joy finds ways to manifest itself in obscure ways, such as when he wore the pink shirt and the tie belt. “Well, we’ve got to do something to celebrate.” (25) What most people find fright in, Finny finds excitement, such as when he jumps from the tree and founds the Summer Suicide Society. “This is the most fun I’ve had in weeks. Who’s next?” (16) An example of Finny’s innocence is showed through blitzball, the game he created with no teams, therefore without any losers of winners, but it was loads of fun. (37-40) Though, with an innocence this perfect, there is bound to be corruption. Finny’s innocence was corroded by the jealousy and malice of his supposed best friend, Gene. Gene at first saw Finny as a good, but very influential friend. Although, partway through the book, Gene began to despise Finny, thinking that Finny was only trying to be better than him. “That way he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me. It was all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity.” (53) In all actuality Finny was a great person as shown by the above paragraph. “Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he.” (59) Eventually this jealousy from Gene towards Finny’s perfection tried to wear away the wholeness Finny had found. This shown when Gene shook the limb of the tree. (59-60) This breaks Finny’s leg which ends, essentially, where his perfection originates from, his athletics. “Sports are finished for him, after an accident like that. Of course.” (63) Finny still retained his innocence but, it was not the same as before.

Show More
Related

  • Loss of Innocence

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel Gene loses his innocence and matures under the influence of Finny. Gene gradually lets go of his childish jealousy over Finny, who he believes is superior to him and feels hatred towards. He however comes to realize what Finny’s friendship holds for him and recognizes his need to be a part of Finny. Gene first gains confidence in himself and starts maturing when he refuses to lie about his rich heritage...

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace Essays - Gene’s Enemies

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gene believes that Finny and he hate each other, until he realizes Finny’s pureness, which Gene can not stand.  At first, Gene believes that Finny wants to exceed him, and that the two are rivals.  Everyone at Devon likes Finny.  The teachers adore him, the students look up to him, the athletes aspire to be like him.  Finny has no enemies.  Gene, however, sees through Finny’s “cover” and thinks they hate each other.  He hates Finny for beating A. Hopkins swimming record, and for making him jump from the tree, and for being better than Gene.  When Finny takes Gene to the beach, Finny tells Gene that they are “best pals.”  Gene does not respond to Finny’s sincere gesture because he thinks Finny wants to sabotage him.  Gene realizes that he and Finny are “even after all, even in enmity.  The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all” (46).  Gene has no proof of Finny’s hatred, but Gene needs to find a way to be even with Finny.  Once he decides they are even, he must now surpass Finny, so he jounces the limb.  Gene’s hatred takes over, only now he realizes that the hatred only comes from one side.  Finny is pure.  He never hates Gene; he loves Gene like he loves everyone else.  Ge...

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Separate Peace By John Knowles

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Looking Glass Wars Character Analysis

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the novel, Alyss is characterized as dependent, loving, and imaginative. Throughout the story these traits mature and Alyss becomes more adult like but still is a little childish in certain scenes. One can say that the maturity that Alyss goes through affects herself later on in the story. During the story the

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between A Separate Peace And A Separate Peace

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Separate Peace, Gene has to go to school during WWII. He finds a friend named Phineas to help him through all the struggles school can give you. Gene doesn’t understand until the end of the book that Phineas pushed him to do things that he never thought he could. Even though they had their struggles, they were friends until the end. This is almost like what we see in the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In this book, Christopher's father was his best friends. He always made sure he was okay. When Christopher learned he was lied to about his mother and that his father killed Wellington, he stopped trusting everyone. In the end of the story, Christopher's father ended up being there for him and he regained all the trust that was lost between them. Both of these stories show how important friendship can

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace

    562 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age novel about two boys at boarding school and their friendship during World War II. There are three significant scenes of violence that occur in the novel; however, the core of the plot is based upon one. The first and most poignant is the incident where Gene, the narrator, jiggles the tree branch while he and Phineas, his best friend, are preparing to jump, causing Phineas to fall and break his leg. The next scene of violence is when Quackenbush calls Gene a lame and Gene pushes him into the water. Lastly, Gene pushes Leper out of his chair while visiting him after he is accused of causing Phineas’ injury. All of these occurrences contribute to the overall meaning of the work.

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace Argument

    391 Words  | 1 Pages

    The literary analysis essay for A Separate Peace entitled Chapter 7: After the Fall notes that Gene’s brawl with Cliff Quackenbush occurs for two reasons: the first reason being that Gene was fighting to defend Finny, and the second reason being that Quackenbush is the antithesis of Finny. Cliff Quackenbush calls Gene a “maimed son-of-a-bitch”, since Gene holds a position on the team that is usually reserved for physically disabled students, and Gene reacts by hitting him in the face (Knowles, 79). At first, Gene remarks that he didn’t know why he reacted this way, then he says, “it was almost as though I were maimed. Then the realization that there was someone who was flashed over me”, referring to Finny (Knowles, 79). Quackenbush is “the adult world of punitive authority personified”, his voice mature, his convictions militaristic (Chapter, 76). Quackenbush reminds Gene of the adult world and all of the things that Finny and Devon protected him from, such as war.

    Read More

  • Personal Identity In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    Finny is a rebellious, charming, and very athletic boy. His charisma comes from his ability to make up rules and ideas on the spot and being able to get out of any trouble which is magnetic to the other boys at Devon. Most of the teachers admired Phineas because he was the poster boy of boys not yet affected by the war as mentioned by Gene when he says " But there was another reason. I think we reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen. [...] We reminded them of what peace was like, of lives that were not bound up with destruction,". (Knowles 24) While the war rages on the boys of the school begin to adjust to their fates, showing their more negative emotions such as hatred for the enemy. Gene believed that everyone chose their enemy at some point, hated at some point. But what made Finny different was that he never did. Phineas in all his actions was good intentioned. He saw the world as a giant playground. The game he invented, Blitz Ball, is a game where no one actually wins or loses. Blitz Ball's whole idea is enjoying the pure fun of the game and not the outcome which shows who Finny really is as a person. He sees the goodness in everyone and expects that everyone else does the same. (Which can also cause him to look arrogant and selfish at times which Finny never becomes fully aware of.) This blind eye to evil leads to Finny's downfall (literally) as he doesn't realize the burdens Gene holds

    Read More

  • A seperate peace

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gene is the narrator and protagonist of A Separate Peace. He suffers from all PDF the regular teenager ailments; self consciousness, jealousy, an identity crisis, and uncertainty. It is obvious from the start that Gene holds a great deal of admiration for Finny. Finny is a hero, an athlete, and a God in Genes eyes. Gene admires Finny, but naturally, Finny is also the competition. Finny gains what Gene lacks. Finny has the talents for sports, better conversation and actions and could easily be described as the perfect "Devon student". Gene May get better grades, but he goes unnoticed while Finny is able to corral the boys into any activity and talk even Gene himself into breaking the rules. Gene admits to jouncing the limb of the tree on that one summer day of 1942, and he even admits his crime to Finny. It is unknowing whether this crime was subconscious, a blind impulse or consciously malevolent. The source of our facts is Gene himself which makes it even more of a rocky situation. It could be that Gene over stricken with guilt jounced the branch, or that he has imagined these antagonist thoughts which were never really t...

    Read More

  • Romanticism In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him on a personal level throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Comparing Love and Sports in A Separate Peace and Goodbye, Columbus

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    It would be interesting to see what A Separate Peace would look like if the physical aspect of love in it was not superseded by sports. The dynamics of the character suggests that Finny, infinitely free as he is, knowing no fear, and majestically comfortable with breaking the rules, would be more than likely to have transgressed by the age of seventeen--out of sheer curiosity and goodness, in a Tom Jones way.

    Read More

  • The Fall of Innocence in A Separate Peace

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    After Phineas, also known as Finny, falls from the tree, he slowy begins to change. He begins to lose his innocence, It can be seen in the beginning of the novel that Finny acts very innocent. For example, Finny's game of Blitzball shows his spontaneous style of play, and his innocent child like personality. However after Finny's tragic fall from the tree, he begins to seem less innocent and childish. He begins to reveal secrets to Gene, such as when he tells Gene about trying to enlist in the war. “I've been writing to the Army and the Navy and the Marines and the Canadians and everybody else all winter..”(Knowles 190). War is not an event for innocent little boys. When readers find out that Finny had been trying to enlist in the war all winter it shows that after the fall Finny becomes less and less innocent. He no longer begins to play his childish games, and no longer tries to preform his crazy stunts. Though he is hurt, he does not seem to want to watch or help participate in any of these activies. On the day Finny fell from that tree, he did not just plument down into the river beneath him, but also fell from innocence.

    Read More

  • Rivalry In A Separate Peace

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the early pages of the novel, Finny confesses that Gene is his best friend. This is considered a courageous act as the students at Devon rarely show any emotion. And rather than coming back with similar affection, Gene holds back and says nothing. Gene simply cannot handle the fact that Finny is so compassionate, so athletic, so ingenuitive, so perfect. As he put it, "Phineas could get away with anything." (p. 18) In order to protect himself from accepting Finny's compassion and risking emotional suffering, Gene creates a silent rivalry with Finny, and convinced himself that Finny is deliberately attempting to ruin his schoolwork. Gene decides he and Finny are jealous of each other, and reduces their friendship to cold trickery and hostility. Gene becomes disgusted with himself after weeks of the silent rivalry. He finally discovers the truth, that Finny only wants the best for Gene, and had no hidden evil intentions. This creates a conflict for Gene as he is not able to deal with Finny's purity and his own dark emotions. On this very day Finny wants to jump off of the tree branch into the Devon river at the same time as Gene, a "double jump" (p. 51), he says, as a way of bonding. It was this decision, caused by Finny's affection for Gene and outgoing ways that resulted in drastic change for the rest of his life.

    Read More

  • Gene's Shadow In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Gene's Coming of Age in A Separate Peace

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... age of Gene Forrester. Because Finny causes Gene to grow up, we are able to realize that one must grow up to move on in life. In that process of growing up, several people impact your life. This novel shows us how our identity is basically created by those who are present in our lives; however we must not measure our abilities against another person (Overview: A Separate Peace 2). We are shown how the impact of one person can make a great difference. The goodness in people is what one should always take away from a relationship. This is shown in the relationship between Gene and Finny. The experiences Finny gives Gene cause him to grow up and become a better person because of them.

    Read More

More about A Separate Peace

Open Document