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Direct Characterization In A Separate Peace

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Introduction:
Gene is a 16 year old boy attending the Devon boarding school in the year 1942. He is an introvert who is trying to find himself throughout the book, A Separate Peace. Gene befriends a boy named Phineas, or Finny. Finny is the exact opposite of Gene, he is an extrovert who likes adventure and breaking rules. The two boys become close friends, but throughout their friendship Gene is jealous of Finny. Gene excels in academics, while Finny is fun and great athlete. Finny is the leader in the friendship and Gene feels that Finny is very controlling almost bullying him. Gene and Finny are both competitive, but Genes thinks that Finny wants to compete with him in everything. Gene is the protagonist in the story due to his competitive nature and his jealousy of Finny. …show more content…

What happens when one person in the relationship is overly competitive, to the point where he is hurting the friendship? Gene is jealous of Finny because he is athletic, he thinks that Finny is trying to compete with him in academics, and Finny is well liked. For example, Gene considers Finny almost like a Greek hero. Finny accels in virtually every sport, and even when he is injured Finny wants Gene to be the athlete he couldn't. Gene is slightly athletic, but not in the way Finny is, and Gene is envious of his friend. Another example is Finny wanting to further his academic abilities. Gene is resentful of Finny, because Gene does much better in academics than Finny and doesn't want Finny to be smart. Gene thinks that Finny is trying to compete so Gene devotes much of his time studying and focusing on his studies. The final example is Finny and his good naturedness and likeability. Gene is spiteful towards Finny because he can break rules and not get caught or reprimanded. One day Finny wears a bright pink shirt, which is not part of the schools dress code and is not punished. (Add

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