A Separate Peace by John Knowles

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

At the Devon school, in A Separate Peace, Finny and Gene seem to be

opposites in every way; Phineas is a leader and Gene is a follower,

Gene is mainly introverted and Phineas is outgoing and buoyant and

Phineas is an athlete and Gene is a scholar. But as the pages turn,

Finny and Gene begin to develop a bond, caused by Gene's envious rage

and the tree incident. Gene does not know how he could do such a thing

to such a close friend, his best pal, who was so innocent and noble of

heart and who's thoughts were so pure. In the blink of an eye, Gene

realizes that the underlying competition between Finny and himself was

no more than a figment of his imagination and that the thought of the

two competing had but only hit Finny's subconscious before it was

rejected instantaneously. When Phineas returns from the hospital and

his stay at home, crutch-bound, never to compete in sports again, Gene

begins to evolve himself around Finny, the person he always wished he

were, allowing Finny to live through himself and training for a

fantastical sports event as Finny would've done. Gene is sympathetic

towards Finny, but also takes on Finny's ideas and characteristics

willingly and lets Finny's identity overtake his own. Finny and Gene,

now living through one-another, create an imaginary world at Devon,

were wars do not exist and were there is no need for Leper Lepellier

to enlist in an army or be emotionally breached. The war is just a

conspiracy as was Gene's true feelings

toward Finny and what really happened at the tree. Gene's deliberate

decision to push Finny off the tree was just another crazy idea that

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...ghout the novel, feelings of security and contentment allow Finny

and Gene to coexist as one unit, a symbiotic pairing of the two

opposites. The two construct one identity, Finny living through Gene

and Gene taking on Finny's characteristics and mannerisms. They exist,

codependent with one another, for the greater part of the book in a

lukewarm mixture of conversation and feelings. The two never

completely delve into the deepness of their relationship until they

were forced to at the end of the novel. This attachment to one another

proves unhealthy at the end of the novel in the feelings of blankness

in Gene and in the death of Finny. Having all of the cards out on the

table showed how evil and deep their connection really had always been

and how truly fit the two were to handle the truth of war and their

relationship.