An Analysis Of John Knowles A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace: Love with Malevolent Purpose

In daily life, it is essential for humans to have relationships with others. From casual and romantic affairs to hateful connections, these various bonds can be defined through the actions and thoughts that the two people in the relationships have with each other. The two often feel the same about each other, but sometimes, one person may feel differently about their connection than the other one does. In John Knowles’s novel, A Separate Peace, the rarer of the two scenarios occurs between the two protagonists. While Finny sees and treats Gene Forrester as a friend, Forrester experiences mixed thoughts about Finny throughout their friendship, causing him to reveal his love and hatred through

his actions.
In the beginning of the novel, Gene Forrester starts to expose his ambivalence when Finny tries to force him and the other boys to jump off the tree that is used for war training.

Forrester shows his reluctance to even be there with Finny, stating that Phineas was going to deceive them into jumping off the tree after he does. Forrester claims, “Naturally Finny was going to be the first to try, and just as naturally he was going to inveigle others, us, into trying it with him” (Knowles 15). Forrester has come to the conclusion that his supposed ‘friend’ is so selfish that he is capable of using trickery to get what he wants, and instead of focusing on the quality traits of Phineas, Forrester focuses on the flaws Finny has. Gene Forrester also believes that he is possibly being completely controlled by Finny, and that that was the reason he was complying to jump. Forrester wonders, “What was I doing here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold on me?” (Knowles 17). Gene Forrester dislikes the way he does whatever Phineas wants, and hates his friend for taking advantage of him. Obviously, Finny’s way of persuading Forrester and the other students annoys Gene Forrester to the point where he starts to dislike his fellow

roommate.
Forrester also expresses his mixed feelings when he speaks of his admiration and hatred for Finny’s ability to get away with anything. When Finny gets away with wearing a pink shirt in history class, Forrester starts to envy him for this talent, but quickly tries to dismiss it. Gene Forrester recalls, “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with everything. I couldn’t help envying a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little” (Knowles 25). In fact, Forrester is so jealous of Finny’s skill that he wishes that Finny would end up getting in trouble for something; he feels happiness and excitement when he sees Phineas’s wit begin to falter at the Upper Middler tea. Forrester remembers, “This time he wasn’t going to get away with it. I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that” (Knowles 27). At that point in time, Gene Forrester thought of Finny as an enemy he wants to fail, not a friend he can encourage. Evidently, Forrester’s jealousy of his best friend leads readers to believe that Phineas is not a friend to Gene Forrester, but a rival to him.
Finny and Gene Forrester’s relationship once again proves to be questionable when Finny saves Forrester from falling off the tree near the river.

Forrester begins to feel happiness and gratitude for Finny’s miraculous deed. Gene Forrester exclaims, “If Finny hadn’t come up right behind me… If he hadn’t been there… I could have fallen on the bank and broken my back! If I had fallen awkwardly enough I could’ve been killed. Finny had practically saved my life” (Knowles 31). Forrester is happy to have a friend like Finny to help him the way he did until he remembers Finny was the reason he was on the tree. He starts to feel anger, and no longer feels grateful and abhors Finny for putting him on the tree and saving him. Forrester states, “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me. I wouldn’t have been on that damn limb except for him… I didn’t need to feel any tremendous rush of gratitude towards Phineas” (Knowles 32). Evidently, Forrester still thinks of Phineas as a nemesis, even though Phineas helped him just like a friend would, and saved him from falling to his

death.
When Finny invents Blitzball for the other boys to play, Gene Forrester yet again has conflicting thoughts about Finny. He is exasperated that they allowed Phineas to create the rules so he could be the best at the game. Forrester admits, ““I supposed it served us right for letting him do all the planning” (Knowles 40). He suspects that he would have been better than Finny at the game if he was the one who made the rules, and is sure that Finny came up with the rules so he can beat everyone else. However, Forrester tells himself that it is good Phineas can succeed at something, and that he should be proud of his best friend. Forrester thinks, “It was good Finny could shine at it… I was glad of that too. Naturally. He was my roommate and my best friend” (Knowles 40). Gene Forrester tries to dispose of the negative views he has of Phineas, and is unaware that his disgust for his peer is taking control of their friendship. Clearly, Forrester’s continuous pessimistic opinions of Finny are greater than his positive ones.
Forrester’s suspicion of Finny’s antics is the last time Forrester keeps his uncertainty about his bond with Finny to himself before he starts to express it through his actions. When Finny beats the swimming record and tells Gene Forrester not to tell anyone, Forrester is sure Finny is trying to intimidate him. Forrester speculates, “It made Finny seem too unusual for — not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry. And there were few relationships among us at Devon not based on rivalry” (Knowles 45). He starts to suspect that Phineas is trying to start a rivalry between them, and that friendships only involve competition. Later, he starts to believe that the reason Phineas has been dragging him to various activities is because he is jealous of Forrester for his good grades and wants to be the more successful one in the relationship. Because Gene Forrester thinks his jealousy for Finny is normal, he believes Finny must feel the same about him. Forrester’s twisted idea of a friendship is the cause for his love and hatred of Finny, and because of this, he starts to express his affection and animosity for his best friend through his actions.
The first time Forrester begins to reveal his clashing thoughts is when Finny declares Gene Forrester is his best friend while they are on the beach. Forrester is unable to return the display of affection because he knows he would be lying if he did. Forrester confesses, “I should’ve told him then that he was my best friend also and rounded off what he had said. I started to; I nearly did. But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth” (Knowles 48). He’s afraid to tell Phineas the truth out of fear of hurting his feelings, and still wants him to be his so-called friend even though he hates him. This tiny situation proves that Gene Forrester is confused about Finny’s bond with him.
Gene Forrester displays his changing judgement of Finny once more when he causes Finny to fall out of the tree. He does it out of his malevolent nature and resentment towards Finny, but his love for Finny causes him to later regret his actions and pity Finny. This forces him to try to tell his friend the truth multiple times, even though Finny does not believe him until the end of the novel. He also lets Finny control his life without any reluctance; because of Finny’s inability to fight during World War 2 and play any sports, he doesn’t enlist in the war. Instead, he allows Finny to train him for the 1944 Olympics that Finny wanted to participate in, even though he doesn’t enjoy athletics as much as Finny does. Although Forrester dislikes Phineas, his devotion to him makes Forrester feel pity and do whatever he wants.
In John Knowles’s novel, A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester’s inconsistent feelings towards Finny were the reason that their friendship fell apart. While Phineas had no ill intentions towards Forrester, Gene Forrester hated him but refused to profess the truth, causing conflict and violence throughout their time at Devon. Their connection is a fantastic example of what could happen if two people in a relationship aren’t honest with each other. Although it may not end in death, it could end in emotional distress for the two involved. Obviously, Truth is the only way a bond can last, no matter what kind of relationship it is.