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.
One day, thetwo boys were on top of the tree and a large sense of envy came over Gene, he shook the treebranch. Finny loses his balance, trying to reach for Gene. Gene, who does not move, he letsFinny fall. Finny shattered his leg and was told he could never play sports again. This is a keypoint in the novel which showed Gene at his lowest point where he let his emotions get the bestof him.
Gene is already upset over Finny keeping his distance but now that he caused Finny to fall a second time which leads to his death he is broken. During the trial Finny yell at Brinker then abruptly leave, rushing down the stairs, he falls which everyone hears from the courtroom (John Knowles). After the second fall Finny is taken to a different area which Gene Finds. Finny forgives Gene then, he dies due to bone marrow going into the blood stream. Gene cannot forgive himself even though Finny forgave him.
They are supposed to be best friends, but Gene envies him and thinks he is trying to make him look bad. After Finny’s accident, Gene struggled with guilt and his life was changed because of it. “I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was. One evening when I was dressing for dinner in this numbed frame of mind, an idea occurred to me, the first with any energy behind it since Finny fell from the tree. I decided to put on his clothes” (Knowles 29).
I could not escape feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (Knowles 116). Before Finny died Gene had manifested a strong jealousy of Finny which formed more envy and resentment. Gene struggled to find his own identity and he did everything through Finny, so when Finny died, that part of Gene died also which lead Gene to finding his
If he is not thinking for himself, he is not being true to himself. Another way that Gene is affected is that he allows his imitation of Finny get in the way of his schooling. Finny talks Gene into going to the beach on a school night, not fearing the consequences. Gene explains “The beach was hours away by bicycle, forbidden,
After the truth was said it opened doors for Finny and Gene to realize what the end result would be. “Listen, pal, if I can 't play sports, you 're going to play them for me, ' and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas” (Knowles 77). Events had turned around and now it felt like the guilt Gene had in him after the jounce made him do what Finny was asking for. Finny had been a role model to Gene. Gene learned a lot from Finny, persistence, determination, wisdom, and having no doubt about anything.
Finny not being able to play sports anymore that meant Gene was next in line for the top athlete at Devon. In addition, this incident leads to Finny having several health issues and dying towards the end of the novel. Gene knew that Finny had no admirations towards him and that made him angered. Gene was hurt when Finn died but he still didn’t change once he went to war or when he came back to visit Devon in his elder years. “He had never been jealous of me for a second.
I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family’s strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (Knowles 105). Because of Gene’s treachery, he suffers through the realization that his own selfish desires had crushed his best friend’s dreams and ultimately killed Gene emotionally and Phineas physically. Throughout this novel, we watch as Gene suffers the fallout of betraying his best friend. We follow Gene as he utterly destroys his own emotional life, annihilates everyone’s trust in him, and is forced to watch his best friend suffer and die because of his own perfidious actions.
A Separate Peace, Unit Test Hamza Eldohiri The story “A Separate Peace”, written by John Knowles, was written at the time and takes place during World War II when battles and conflicts amongst nations were evident. Each nation involved struggled and fought their hardest in order to satisfy the good of their nation. Not only is the setting in the story taking place during this time of quarrel, the story also demonstrates areas of self-conflict and an internal battle throughout. The characters in “A Separate Peace”, are described as experiencing this self-conflicting, internal battle. Gene (also the narrator) is specifically depicted as he goes through his battle in life.