A Separate Peace (Compare and Contrast Finny and Gene) Have you ever had a best friend who was the c
omplete the opposite of you? The novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, tells of a pair of best
friends who vary quite a bit from one another. Gene's best friend, Finny, is an athletic individual
who loves to break the rules while he himself is a law abiding studious person. The two main chara
cters in this novel are similar to and different from each other in many ways. Finny is the epitome
of the good in the human heart. He, unlike Gene, disregards the rules. An example of this is when
Finny jumps out of the big tree near the river although it is against the rules. He considers autho
rity the "necessary evil against which happiness was achieved." He also breaks the rules when he we
ars the Devon School tie as a belt to a traditional term tea. Finny is also much more of an individ
ual and extrovert than Gene. While others wouldn't dare, Finny wore a pink tee shirt to school as a
n emblem of celebration that the United States had bombed Central Europe. This also shows us that h
e is very confident of himself. On the contrary of Gene, Finny is very persuasive and gets out of m
ost of the trouble he gets himself into. As Gene puts it, Finny is "able to get away with anything
at all." Unlike most students who wear the Devon School tie as a belt, Finny was able to talk the s
choolmaster out of punishing him for that and for missing nine dinners in two weeks. Finny also lov
es anything athletic and is the best athlete at the school. He is a great football player, swimmer,
and blitzball player. He even broke the school swimming record on his first try. This brings up a
nother of Finny's characteristics: he has an innocent nature. While Finny broke the school swimming
record, he didn't want to tell anyone because he "just wanted to see if" he "could do it." He just
did it for himself. Finny has nothing to prove to anyone, which is the complete opposite of Gene.
Gene is completely shocked by Finny's decision to just keep it a secret because he has a much great
er competitive nature. Unlike Gene, Finny saves Gene's life by grabbing his arm while he was fallin
g out of the big tree. Finny also shows that he cares about others when he tells Gene that he was h
is best friend, which is unheard of in an all boy school. Another difference from Gene is that Finn
y is a poor student. He makes Gene do some of his homework for him and gets barely passing grades.
Similar to Gene, Finny is also in denial of reality. Finny denies the existence of the war by inve
nting the story that World War II had been started by "a bunch of fat old men" who didn't want the y
oung "crowding their jobs" and denies the fact that Gene had jounced the limb on purpose. He denied
both because he cannot accept a reality that doesn't include him and a painful one respectively. Ge
ne is the complete opposite of Finny. Unlike Finny, Gene is an introverted person who abides by the
rules. At the end of his visit at Finny's house, Finny asks him if he was going to start living by
the rules and he answers no but Gene remarks that "that was the biggest lie of all." Also, when Ge
ne starts doing his "West Point stride", annoyed Finny causes Gene to trip. Gene is more of a follo
wer than the leader Finny is. He does the things Finny does like jump out of the big tree. He also
goes on escapades with him that Finny makes up like riding their bikes to the beach. Gene never ha
s any fun and spontaneous ideas like Finny does. Finny even says to Gene, "You never waste your tim
e. That's why I do it for you." He is a great student, while Finny is a great athlete. Gene was t
rying to become the valedictorian of his class. Unlike Finny, who didn't have to try to be a great
athlete, Gene had to work hard and study for his good grades. Finny even tells Gene that he didn't
know that he "needed to study" because he thought everyone was like him in the fact that the things
you were good at "just came to you." Gene is much more of a violent and jealous person than Finny w
ould ever be. Gene would always be jealous of how Finny would always get himself out of trouble and
was disappointed that he hadn't been punished. Gene began to resent Finny when he saw that no matt
er what he did, Finny would always be better than him. At first, he thought that he and Finny were
equals because Finny wasn't a good student but was a great athlete while Gene was a good athlete and
a great student. He also felt better because he had thought that Finny was jealous of Gene's good
grades. When he found out that Finny just wanted what was best for Gene and was not in any way jeal
ous of him, he just couldn't take it and had to lash out at Finny by deliberately making Finny fall
out of the tree. Completely unlike Finny, Gene was like Leper put it, "a savage underneath." Gene's
violent nature was also shown when he knocked down Lepers chair and made him fall when he had told
him that he knew Gene had jounced the limb and had caused Finny's accident. Finally, like Finny, Ge
ne denies the truth to others. He denies the fact that he had caused the accident that crippled Fin
ny for life to other people. In conclusion, Gene and Finny are two different people who are best fri
ends. Gene and Finny are complements of what is in man's heart: Gene is the dark side of man while
Finny is the benevolent side. At the end of the novel, both boys must face up to the truth of reali
ty: Gene having to realize that he did harm Finny purposefully while Finny realizes that the war was
real and that his best friend did actually go against him and cause his paralyzing accident. While
there are much more differences than similarities between these two characters, there is no denying
that both characters influenced one another and in a way, needed each other. Although the story ha
d a tragic ending, good came out of it because Gene became a better person and the war inside himsel
f ended.
separate peace compare contrast finny gene have ever best friend complete opposite novel s
eparate peace john knowles tells pair best friends vary quite from another gene best friend finny at
hletic individual loves break rules while himself abiding studious person main characters this novel
similar different from each other many ways finny epitome good human heart unlike gene disregards r
ules example this when jumps tree near river although against rules considers authority necessary ev
il against which happiness achieved also breaks when wears devon school belt traditional term also m
uch more individual extrovert than while others wouldn dare wore pink shirt school emblem celebratio
n that united states bombed central europe this also shows that very confident himself contrary very
persuasive gets most trouble gets himself into puts able away with anything unlike most students we
ar devon school belt able talk schoolmaster punishing that missing nine dinners weeks loves anything
athletic athlete great football player swimmer blitzball player even broke swimming record first br
ings another characteristics innocent nature while broke swimming record didn want tell anyone becau
se just wanted could just nothing prove anyone which complete opposite completely shocked decision j
ust keep secret because much greater competitive nature unlike saves life grabbing falling tree show
s cares about others when tells friend which unheard another difference from poor student makes some
homework gets barely passing grades similar denial reality denies existence inventing story world b
een started bunch didn want young crowding their jobs denies fact jounced limb purpose denied both b
ecause cannot accept reality doesn include painful respectively complete opposite introverted person
abides visit house asks going start living answers remarks biggest starts doing west point stride a
nnoyed causes trip more follower than leader does things does like jump tree goes escapades with mak
es like riding their bikes beach never spontaneous ideas like does even says never waste your time g
reat student great athlete trying become valedictorian class didn have athlete work hard study good
grades even tells know needed study thought everyone fact things were good came much more violent je
alous person than would ever would always jealous would always trouble disappointed hadn been punish
ed began resent matter what always better first thought were equals wasn student felt better thought
jealous grades found wanted what couldn take lash deliberately making fall completely leper savage
underneath violent nature shown knocked down lepers chair made fall told knew jounced limb caused ac
cident finally denies truth others fact caused accident crippled life other people conclusion differ
ent people friends complements what heart dark side benevolent side novel both boys must face truth
reality having realize harm purposefully realizes real actually against cause paralyzing accident th
ere differences similarities between these characters there denying both characters influenced neede
d each other although story tragic ending came became better inside endedEssay, essays, termpaper, t
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