Gene's War for Peace

An aspect of the setting in Knowles' novel A Separate Peace, World War II, mirrors Gene's complex internal struggles.

Gene's envy for Phineas often fogs his narration of the novel. "I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help but envy him a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying your best friend a little" (Knowles 25). This quotation reveals Gene's dishonesty as the narrator because he is lying to himself. Gene really envies Phineas a lot. And a narrator that cannot even be truthful to himself will probably incompletely tell the story of someone they envy.

Gene also has a great deal of self-loathing. "If I was the head of the class and won that prize, we would be even..." (Knowles 52). Gene often scolds himself and devises plans (as shown in the preceding quotation) because of his insecurities. He is always comparing himself to Finny, and attempting to outdo him. And whenever Finny achieves something great, like breaking Devon Academy's swimming record, Gene wonders how he can defeat Finny, instead of congratulating his "best friend".

Another complexity in Gene's struggle is shown in the quotation, "You did hate him for breaking the swimming record, but so what?" (53). Gene just admitted that he hated his best friend then shrugs it off by saying "but so what?" as if it was nothing. As if he was scared to face the truth, and just wanted to do away with it. Gene's character does not really develop throughout the novel because he doesn't allow himself to; instead of facing his reality, he tries to hide it under a coat of varnish. But, putting up a facade doesn't get rid of the problems. If anything, it makes them worse. Gene's bottled-up envy sits inside of him and bubbles until one day, he had to resort to violence to unleash his anger.

Gene jounced the limb of the tree just as Finny was about to jump off, resulting with Finny paralyzed and unable to play sports again. In a twisted way, Gene was happy that he made Finny fall. Now, he wouldn't have any competition. He could finally enjoy his scholastic rewards. and, with the help of Finny, train for the Olympics. Now, Gene's life is great. As long as no one chips the varnish...