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Character analysis in a separate piece by John Knowles
Character analysis in a separate piece by John Knowles
Character analysis in a separate piece by John Knowles
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The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake, display how one must forgive their friends for forgiveness is the only way to separate friends from enemies. After an accident, in A Separate Peace Finny, his best friend forgives him immediately, while the rest of their class suspect Gene had malicious intent. Similarly, William Blake forgives his friend promptly in his poem, nonetheless, he holds a grudge against his enemy till his anger explodes. Both works show how a powerful friendship can overcome adversity; conversely, those distrusted face anger. Although Gene hurt Finny, he never questions Gene's loyalty and friendship. Showing how true friends will always believe and trust each other. During a school
Friendship is a necessity throughout life whether it is during elementary school or during adulthood. Some friendships may last a while and some may last for a year; it depends on the strength of the bond and trust between the two people. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Finny, did not have a pure friendship because it was driven by envy and jealousy, they did not feel the same way towards each other and they did not accurately understand each other.
must be his only enemy who needed to be taken down. Gene is also envious of Finny’s humble personality, his ch...
Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him on a personal level throughout the novel.
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
Gene sets himself up to become the inferior in his relationship with Finny because of his distrusting nature, but his yielding to Finny’s power motivates him to no longer be the lackey but rather the leader. In Gene’s quest for dominance, his initial steps are passive; he seeks to portray Finny as an antagonist and look better in comparison. Gene’s plan escalates as he takes away power from Finny physically. This proceeds into an obsession with him, convincing Gene that the only way to gain power is to become Finny. Knowles uses Gene’s escalation of his plot for power to warn readers to be wary of those seeking power. Through Gene, he advises the reader that individuals who seek power will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.
In A Separate Peace, Gene has to go to school during WWII. He finds a friend named Phineas to help him through all the struggles school can give you. Gene doesn’t understand until the end of the book that Phineas pushed him to do things that he never thought he could. Even though they had their struggles, they were friends until the end. This is almost like what we see in the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In this book, Christopher's father was his best friends. He always made sure he was okay. When Christopher learned he was lied to about his mother and that his father killed Wellington, he stopped trusting everyone. In the end of the story, Christopher's father ended up being there for him and he regained all the trust that was lost between them. Both of these stories show how important friendship can
The American Library Association defines a challenge to a book as, “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of a person or group” (“About Banned). A Separate Peace by John Knowles was one of the many challenged books of its time; it was ranked sixty-seventh on the American Literature Association’s list of most challenged classic novels The book continues to be challenged all over the country and in 2013 it is ranked thirty-fifth on the summer of banned books list .(ALA). A Separate Peace chronicles the life of a boy named Gene Forrester, a student of the prestigious Devon School in New Hampshire. In Gene’s first year at Devon. He becomes close friends with his daredevil of a roommate Finny. Secretly Gene somewhat
This quote shows their friendship. Gene didn’t understand why Finny talked him into things that he knew he shouldn't have done. Finny influenced Gene. This wasn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes Finny helped Gene overcome his fears and help him become more social. But sometimes, it was a bad thing, like jumping from the tree. Much of his hesitation over jumping has less to do with a fear of dying than a fear of subordination, of blindly following Finny's desires
My definition of friendship between two people, can be described as being able to trust or confide in a person, being able to talk to them without much or any hesitance, and someone who can get along well and stay friendly through difficult times. In my opinion, Finny and Gene seem to fit this description. They both had multiple "adventures", such as skipping school for the beach, and making a club together with some of their other friends from Devon. Also, although Finny took a while to believe or even listen to him, Gene admits to Finny about pushing out of the tree on purpose. Last, Finny feels comfortable enough with Gene that he can tell him his true feelings about the war that was go...
feels that he has to get revenge. This anger leads to Gene jouncing Finny out of the tree.
Throughout the novel Gene loses his innocence and matures under the influence of Finny. Gene gradually lets go of his childish jealousy over Finny, who he believes is superior to him and feels hatred towards. He however comes to realize what Finny’s friendship holds for him and recognizes his need to be a part of Finny. Gene first gains confidence in himself and starts maturing when he refuses to lie about his rich heritage...
a best friend like Finny is an accolade and he should see it as an achievement. However, this transparent excuse of Gene's maturity at this point, portrays a very young, foolish, and selfish young man. "It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying that a little, which was perfectly normal."(Knowles p. 25) Here we see Gene as a simply confused young man who doesn't know the real value of friendship, and can't refuse a feeling of envy towards his so called "best friend.
Change causes people to make important decisions. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles describes a one-sided jealousy that exists between two best friends. Gene is envious of Finny’s innate athletic ability and decides that he is his rival. One day, as they were jumping off a tree for fun, Gene jounced the tree limb causing Finny to fall. This action that Gene took shows how he lost his purity. Often times when people grow up and experience change they make important decisions, and as a result, they lose their innocence.
When a friend comes into one’s life they should change that person’s life for the better. When Finny comes into Gene’s life, Gene feels as if he has to change what he does and how he does it. Gene doesn’t always want to play Blitzball or jump out of the tree but Gene seems to think he has to do whatever Finny tells him. Finny did not change Gene’s life for better and Gene didn’t change Finny’s for better. They both had to change how they acted when around each other A friendship needs to have a sense of genuinity. When one hangs out with their friend they should talk and the other person
After Gene attempts to confess his supposed intentions and Finny does not even remotely believe him, he thinks, “Could it be that he might even be right? Had I really and definitely and knowingly done it to him after all? I couldn’t remember I couldn’t think” (Knowles, 62). In this passage, Gene clearly shows that his confession is not the indubitable truth. This leads back to the type of person Gene is and the relationship Finny and him have. Gene is undoubtedly jealous of Finny and his athletic ability, but their friendship is very open and important to both of them. For example, Finny shows how he cherishes their friendship here, “ ‘It’s you, pal,’ Finny said to me at last, ‘just you and me.’ He and I started back across the fields, preceding the others like two seigneurs. We were the best of friends at that moment” (10). After the two of them are the only ones to jump out of the tree and into the river, Finny states their immediate relation to each other. Gene also automatically feels as if they share companionship in each other. They have a close friendship, and healthy competition is a component of all relationships. Gene did not have unquestionable belief that he deliberately jostled the limb so Finny would fall and shatter his