Romanticism In John Knowles A Separate Peace

Every author has a different type of style of writing and this author uses romanticism.

John Knowles wrote the book A Separate Peace during WWII at a school named Devon. In the

School, there was a young man named Gene. He was confirmative to many people and always in

denial about everything. A Separate Peace shows how Gene starts to envy and imitate Finny

which leads to Finny’s death and Gene finding peace from him.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him on a personal level throughout the novel.

one way Gene is affected is that he becomes jealous of him and thinks that he’s trying to ruin his

studies like when he states “Oh for God sake! You don’t know I’m talking about. No, of course

not. Not you. Okay, we go. We watch little lily-liver lepellier not jump from the tree, and I ruin

my grade” (knowles31).

Gene was getting mad at Finny because he thought Finny was trying to

distract him from studying by using leper as an excuse. Even though he thought that was the

case, Finny explained to him that he wasn’t trying to do that. Another way Gene is affected is at

the end of the novel when Finny dies, he feels like a part of him dies and that it’s his own funeral

like when Gene says “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. 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 don’t cry in that case”

(Knowles 116).Gene was explaining how he felt like part of him died and that he didn’t have to

Cry. Even though all this was happening to Gene personally, all what affected him also affected

his friendship with Finny.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected their relationship by pushing them apart

at
one point. One way the relationship is affected is the fact that Gene got so jealous, he made
Finny fall off the tree “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees
bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an
Instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways and hit the bank (knowles32). Gene
was standing behind Finny and shook the tree branch. When he did that, Finny lost balance and
fell to the bank and broke his leg. Another way the relationship is affected is when Finny
re-breaks his leg after finding out its Gene’s fault like when h says “You want to break
something else in me! Is that why you’re here!” (Knowles 111). Finny was yelling at Gene if
he’s going to break something else in him because they had just left the interrogation from
Brinker and Finny found out Gene broke his leg on purpose. Once Finny passed away, Gene was
able to move on and be his own person.

Gene was able to achieve peace once Finny dies. The first reason is Finny’s death “Gene
realizes that his enemy is himself and his impulse towards mindless destruction and he believes
he overcame this enemy only after causing Phineas’ death” (Alton). Gene realized that his enemy
is himself and his cause of Finny’s death was his way out of it and the killing of his enemy. The
second reason is once Finny is gone, he finally gets his own identity “He reached this
atmosphere only after separating himself from Phineas and finding his own identity” (Alton).
Gene finally finds his own identity and peace after the passing of Finny. After everything had
happened between Finny and Gene, they both found peace for themselves.

After a long time of Gene starting to envy and imitate Finny, Finny dies and Gene finds
peace from him. Gene self-destructed himself and the relationship between him and Finny but
eventually found peace to move. Don’t let friendship Jealousy start a war within yourself or
between the friendship.