Analysis Of Sophocles A Separate Peace

In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, Gene and Phineas strive to find their true selves which is normal for teenagers. The Greek poet and playwright Sophocles suggest that humans never reach a full realization of who they are as individuals until they find another human being with whom the person can share themselves with. This story starts with Gene as an adult reflecting on how he no longer considers places at Devon fearful anymore. Over the course of Gene and Phineas’ friendship, Gene accumulates guilt and jealousy which fabricates fearful places. The fearful places include, the tree and the marble stairs. The reason Gene came back to Devon was to confront places he considered fearful. He no longer considers them fearful places once

After realizing that these places are no longer fearful to him he now acquires his peace. After Gene’s experiences with his fearful places he comes to realize his anger was gone forever and that nothing endures. In the story Gene and Phineas return to the branch again, but this time Gene makes Phineas lose his balance and fall. It is shown that Gene does this out of jealousy and hate. Gene declares “I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone [...] hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud” (Knowles 60). Gene does this profound action because he is jealous of Phineas and also infuriated by the fact Phineas is not jealous of Gene in the slightest bit. Gene thinks, “He had never been jealous of me for a second. 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” (Knowles 59). This is part of how Gene’s first fearful place was created. Gene realizes the dark and envious side of

This is proven true as John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace displays Gene discovered himself through interactions with Phineas. Gene creates two fearful sites, one when he is overcome with anger by the fact Phineas never reciprocated the jealousy Gene felt toward Phineas, as a result Gene reveals his dark resentful side by injuring Phineas and creating immense guilt. The second fearful place are the marble stairs in which Phineas was injured and broke his leg for the second time which resulted in his death. As an adult Gene revisits these places to learn he no longer fears them but has learnt an important lesson. Gene learns to let go of his anger and guilt, and that nothing lasts forever. Lastly when Phineas dies Gene comprehends that Finny did not need an enemy, unlike everyone else, and decides to live as Phineas did. In the beginning of the story Gene is confronting places he thought of as fearful. Gene realizes that these places are no longer to be terrified as he has let go of the guilt and negative memories associated with him while simultaneously figuring out his identity and receiving a sense of