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In Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, Gene is portrayed as an intelligent
student who is motivated by academics. He is also a thinker that considers a
situation from all sides before making a decision. Gene is also a person who
follows all the rules and regulations. He always obeys his teachers, studies
hard, never misses a class, and makes excellent grades. He does not really enjoy
sports, for he is not a good athlete. While in school he lets many distractions
such as his friend Finny take part in his life. This leads to his internal wars.
Finny is Gene’s roommate and best friend, who has a completely opposite
personality from Gene. He always acts on blind impulse, never thinking about the
rules or the consequences. He is also a poor student, for he does not devote
himself to his studies. He would rather be playing sports, since he is the best
athlete on campus. He lets sports motivate him and wants to participate in the
1944 Olympics. During their days at Devon, Gene is motivated by Finny’s perfect
grace and coordination. Gene begins to adore and worship Finny as a super hero.
He feels his roommate can handle any situation and charm the teachers and
classmates. As a result, Gene tries to imitate him and also lets himself be
controlled by him. Gradually, Gene grows jealous of his friend. He begins to
hope that Finny will get caught and punished for one of his many wild stunts.
For instance, when Pinny wore an outrageous pink shirt, he escaped punishment by
giving a satisfying reason saying that it was his emblem. Gene wants Finny to be
forced down to his level so that he can compete with him and not just lose to
him.Gene tries to please Finny. Although he knows that by doing so, he is acting
against every instinct of his behavior. In order to keep up with Finny, he jumps
from the tree into the river, a daring feat, even though he is scared to death.
He also allows Finny to take him away from his studies, which are very important
to Gene. When Finny saves Gene’s life by preventing him from falling from the
tree, Gene knows that he should be grateful, instead he accuses him by saying he
would not have been up in the tree if weren’t for Finny.
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