A Separate Peace Friendship Analysis

Israel Bell Pd 1 ALA

Nature of Friendship

One of the most important relationship you make in life is friendship. Friendship is a relationship you build with someone that creates a state of trust and support as you share feelings and emotions between each other. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the author exploits these aspects of friendship and applies them to the two main characters Gene and Finny. Although they attempt to be friends, in the end they do not share a true friendship because throughout the book they neither share and cope with their emotions nor provide trust and support. As a result they discover that they are, instead, enemies.

Emotions were one of their biggest repelling forces in their relationship. Emotions such as jealousy tears at Gene and Finny’s relationship. Gene’s inability to cope with his envy and their lack to share emotions between one another fuels Gene’s anger towards Finny. His anger eventually leads himself to crazy conclusions and ultimately the death of his best friend. A few chapters in, right before the exams, Gene thinks that Finny is “deliberately sett[ing] out to wreck [his] studies” by distracting him with things like “blitzball”(45). This is a sign to Gene that there is “a deadly rivalry on both sides”(46) In reality, Finny “doesn’t know [Gene] need[s] to study” and thought “it just [comes] to [him]”(50), because after all Gene doesn’t share with Finny his