Courageousness Courageousness may seem to be measured by the people look on the outside. They look brave, heroic, and have some luck. Now, if someone looked on the inside of that person what would they see. Would they see a mentally strong person with high values in what they believe. On the opposition, the person might find out how scared, mean, and vulnerable they are. Courageousness is how little a person's values are affected when opposition and suffering happen in life. Also, doing things that they fear doing to boost their confidence and defeat their fears, this is courage. In A Separate Peace, The character Finny, who is bright and looking like he is brave all the time might seem to be the obvious candidate for being more courageous than Gene. Gene,who has little bravery an is weak. Gene though is actually the more courageous one because of his willingness to fight for his values and stand up in the face of opposition. In A Separate Peace, Finny, who is a fearless young man who is an amazing athlete. He is normally the one to invent something to lighten the mood. For example, he makes people in his club, including himself, jump out of a tree and into the …show more content…
Devon River. He is very outgoing and can most of the time squeeze himself out of situations. So Finny looks courageous and brave but he has a characteristic that takes it all away. Finny is very easily affected by other people's actions and he is very ashamed of himself. First, he constantly denies that Gene made the limb bounce and made him fall out of the tree. He begs Gene to say that he was taken over by a crazy thought. “It wasn’t anything you really felt against me, it was some kind of hate…” . This shows weakness because he is not strong enough to accept the fact that his best friend made a mistake and injured him. He also is very ashamed of himself because he can not go to the war like every other boy in the nation. This is also demonstrating how he is weak and scared because he can not come to realize that he can participate and maybe it is for the best. Finny looks to be the obvious one to be more courageous than Gene. He has the outwards appearance of being brave and fearless, but the truth comes out on the inside. He consistently does not accept that Gene pushed him out of the tree or that he cannot go into the military, showing no courage to face anything at all. Gene, the narrator in A Separate Peace, is cowardly and afraid at Finny’s ideas. He grimaces every time he has to jump out of the tree and is very hesitant to weather he want to get involved with Finny’s games. “I hesitated on the edge of the fight and the edge of the woods, too tangled in my mind to enter either one or the other”. Gene is courageous in a whole other way though. First, he stands up for his friends and what he believes in. Many times Gene has to stand up for Finny with people making fun of his crippledness and his ability not to go to war. After he fought Quackenbush for calling both of them maimed he says “I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign, for Finny.”. This shows his courage because he is willing to fight someone about what he believe. Though he didn’t win the point that fight, he had the courage to stand up for Finny. Also, Gene demonstrates courageosness by not In A Separate Peace, Finny shows outward bravery and heroism in contrast to Gene’s cowardly actions of being timid and scared.
Gene though is more brave because he stands up and protects his friends and also… , while Finny can not accept that Gene bounced the limb to make him fall out or that he is disabled from the war because of his limb. Gene resembles what people in the world should be like today. Not everyone has to be a great and powerful hero who everyone looks up to. You just have to be able to protect what you believe and … . If we alled lived like Gene instead of Finny we would see a drastic change because there would be no more people trying to be the savior and show off. We would see people protecting their friends, their rights, and even their freedom from anyone who opposes
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Have you ever read a book where one of the main characters was so envious of another? Well, here you have it. In John Knowles “A Separate Peace”, Gene is all for the jealous rage and resentful ways. Throughout the book, Mr. Knowles places the boys in a boarding school and sets the tale so that the reader knows all the focus is set upon Finny and Gene’s relationship. Speaking of relationships and Gene’s way, the storyline takes a turn and Finny actually ends up being almost physically pushed out of a tree. I say that shows a large characteristic of Gene. He is without a doubt, resentful towards Finny.
Finny and Gene were two very contrasting characters who both had their flaws, but in the end one was stronger than the other. On one end of the spectrum, Gene was associated with the traits of bitterness, hate, jealousy, secrecy, and he was a very loathing person. And on the other end, Finny was a light-hearted, good spirited, young, optimistic character. Gene throughout the book developed and changed extensively, and in the end came out the stronger character. Finny was definitely a crowd pleaser, but, Gene was the more solid and strong of the two because of his massive changes, making him a dynamic character.
He becomes aware of Finny’s endurance, as “nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural unity. So at last [Gene] had” (203). Following Finny’s death, Gene states how absolutely nothing could break Finny, not even a war. But the evilness of his shadow and unconscious self could, and cause Finny’s death. One’s shadow can be toxic when displayed to the outside world, especially when it is not in check by the individual. Gene has accepted his dark side when he admits he had been the cause of his friend’s death. In the very end of the novel, Gene finally takes responsibility for all of his shadow’s actions against his best friend, as he thinks to himself, “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there” (204). Gene’s transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end is clearly seen in this quotation, as he no longer denies his shadow’s existence and now claims responsibility of the darkness inside himself. He illustrates himself as being on active duty at all times at school, staying on guard for any of Finny’s tricks that may potentially cause him to fall behind in his studies. His war with Finny, whom he once
Based on the Merriam Webster dictionary, courage is defined as the,“mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” In the play, the characters are tested and forced to make life or death decisions, with
The characters of Gene and Finny are as opposite as apples and oranges. Finny is
Separate Peace What really happened in the tree? Gene and Finny were very good friends; however, whatever happened in the tree the day the Finny "fell" out, is the actual cause of Gene “…My knees bent and I jounced the limb…” page 52. In fact, Finny did not fall out of the tree, but Gene had actually pushed him out. Gene had very good reasons to push him out “Finny had put him up to it, to finish me fro good on the exam.” Page 49. He pushed him out of jealousy for two things. For athleticism, and for his popularity, and also for his ability to talk his way out of anything.. First, Finny was a very athletic person; however, Gene is just a normal average day person. Gene couldn't stand attempting to compete with Finny because he knew that he would always lose.
Initially, the declaration of Independence presented a strong example of courage. Unambiguously, Iit is rational to say that the signers of the Declaration of Independence presented an outstanding sense of courage. Despite the dangerous consequences they were to face, they continued on their path, even if it meant their death; “To sign...What was believed by many at the time to be our (signers of the declaration) own death warrants” (Hogeland 32). Alertly, the signers knew the freedom they were seeking came only with sacrifices, and that enough courage was required for that sacrifice “…were all risking not only their lives but also loss of property and impoverishment of wives and children” (Hogeland 32). They knew freedom was not to walk up to them and greet them with welcoming arms; rather, freedom was to strive for. Furthermore, the signers knew freedom was not to be granted to the cowards and aimless, they knew what they were facing; they knew they had to face the obstacles with courage and bravery, and they did, “…fears and sorrows and sleepless nights of men who projected, proposed, defended and subscribed the Declaration of Independence” (Hogeland 37). It is undebatable that the Declaration is a strong example of courage. Limit your
One of the enemies that Gene created for himself was jealousy. Gene was jealous of everything about Finny. The openness which Finny possessed was one of these things which Gene envied. One incident of Finny’s openness was when he wore the pink shirt. By wearing this he was “symbolizing the first U.S. bombing in Europe.” Gene simply replied to the shirt by calling Finny “nuts,” but deep down inside Gene was jealous of Finny’s boldness. Another incident of Finny’s openness, or boldness is when he wore the school tie as a belt. Gene was anxiously waiting for Finny to get yelled at, but because of his openness he was able to talk his way out of getting into trouble. Finny claimed that he wore the tie as a belt because it represented “Devon in the War.” Again, Gene was envious of Finny’s openness to make up a story and “get away with everything.”
The legend of the Fountain of Youth says that anyone who should drink from or bathe in the waters of the fountain will have their youth restored. The legend has endured for thousands of years; one of the first accounts of its existence is in the writings of a Greek historian named Herodotus from 5 BCE. People have always lusted after youth and innocence, and often they lust in vain. In contrast, author Joe Hill claimed in one of his novels, “Innocence ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know. Innocent little kids rip the wings off flies, because they don’t know any better. That’s innocence.” In the case of Phineas, one of the main characters in John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Hill is correct. The innocence and youthfulness which Phineas
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
Courage means overcoming obstacles to do what is right, Atticus is a generous person that is a great role-model, and knows courage. Atticus demonstrates courage about everyday in his life. Once, when Atticus was talking to Jem and Scout after he told the children Mrs. Dubose died. He said real courage “'Its when you know you're licked before you begin buy you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what,”'(Lee112). In this quote Atticus demonstrates a great example of courage to Scout and Jem. When he is talking about Mrs. Dubose. In the process he reminds himself why he took the Tom Robinson case that, he knew he had no chance in winning. He knew if he took the case he wouldn't be as close with his friends and neighbors until the trail was over. In the end Atticus stood up for what he felt was right against the while people, and that is real courage! Another character that shows courage by overcoming and obstacle to do what is right is Mrs. Dubose. She has been sick for so long that she wanted the pain to go away, and once she got the pain to disappear she overused the medicine. When Atticus explains this to the children he says “'She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you're sick as sh...
Even though he is the weaker character, there are still some strengths that he possesses. Gene prefers to study in his free time, as he knows this is going to help him get a better job in the future. He prefers to focus on logic and rules in life, rather than to go with his “gut feeling”. He is very determined to getting good grades when it comes to school, but these few examples are the only few strengths that Gene has. His list of weaknesses, however, is longer than his list of strengths. Gene is very introverted, and he prefers to work alone. His reason for focusing on his studies is mostly because he wants a good job, but also because he is not very social. If Gene were to work in a group in the modern world, he would not be very cooperative because he is unable to voice his opinion. If, perhaps, someone like Finny were to work with Gene, Gene would just do the work, and Finny would be the one to voice his opinions. Even if Gene disagreed, he would not say anything, as he is too easily influenced. In addition, Gene is a strict rule follower. He does not even think to try and bend the rules, unlike Finny. Katharine Hepburn once said “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun,”, which may explain why Finny has a lot more fun at Devon than Gene does. All in all, even if Gene is
Many people have their own definition of courage some may think of bravery, daring, determination and so many more synonyms, My word to describe courage would be boldness. In the Crucible the turn of events showed the characters true colors and their weaknesses, These two characters that will be desrcribed have showed boldness in a positive and negitive way.
From the very beginning of the novel Finny was displayed as a character that everyone wants to be around. He is a very athletic boy who excels at every...
Peace only comes at the price of great struggle and sacrifice for most people. In essence, it only comes when you have defeated the enemy, or the enemy has defeated you. John Knowles was able to capture the subtle goal and essence of his novel by titling it A Separate Peace. A Separate Peace is a story about Gene Forrester, the protagonist of the story, and his constant struggle with the underlying emotional conflicts present in him. He has to fight a war within his own mind that every man has to fight for himself. His battles eventually uproot underlying emotionsemotions of jealousy, envy, and subdued hatredthat he feels for people that he had undying loyalty for, and an equally strong trust. These emotions then set off a series of events that change his life forever, and he has to fight more for peace amidst a world of chaos. He experiences new feelings fear, frustration, pity, and undeniable guilt. From his experiences in his last year of school at Devon, he emerges with greater strength, greater understanding, maturity, and he finds the separate peace that every man longs for.