Separate peace essay, “Does Gene see Finny as a friend or an enemy?”

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Michael Rossi
December 09, 2008
English 10 Honors/Mr. George
English Essay “Does Gene see Finny as a friend or an enemy?”

Gene’s true friend


Gene spent the majority of his duration at Devon in turmoil, due to his lack of self confidence. He constantly struggled to realize his purpose and subdue his envy. Gene wanted to believe that Finny shared his animosity and sense of rivalry. Not only did this thought never cross Finny’s mind, but in fact it was the exact opposite. Gene later realizes, “Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us” (Knowles 59). Finny was, in fact, Gene’s greatest ally in the battle against himself and through his death Gene finally realizes this. Finny was sacrificed for Gene so that Gene would be endowed the clairvoyance bring about a radical change in himself.
Throughout the text, Gene remains a dynamic character, always changing his attitude and goals. Much of this alteration is caused by Gene’s inability to identify his true problems. Finny has always made a genuine endeavor to better Gene and has remained a true friend until the end. Gene’s inner voice often misguides him into foolish actions which Gene clearly regretsward. This is best exhibited after Gene jounced Finny from the tree, “That night I slept easily, and it was only on waking up that this illusion was gone, and I was confronted with myself, and what I had done to Finny” (62). Gene realizes that Finny is not an enemy: however, he fails to recognize Finny is an asset.
When Gene loses his composure, he often directs the blame to a section of himself, rather than accepting the blame. One example of this is when he flung Finny from the tree:” and
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then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (60). Gene directed the blame to his knees; as if they forced him to jounce the limb. This shows that Gene has recognized a force within himself that seems to think for itself. When Gene’s extreme emotions are unrestricted this force seems to exert its dominion over Gene even more. For example, when Leper tests Gene’s patience and agitates Gene so immensely that he kicks his chair out from under him. When Leper’s mother saw, Gene acknowledges, that a force other than his own led him to his actions “she must have thought, ‘a terrible temper, no self control, but he’s sorry, and he is a good boy underneath’ (146). When Gene suggests what Leper’s mother must be thinking, he states that he must be a good boy underneath. By saying underneath, Gene is referring to the scapegoat personality he uses to shield himself from blame. The surface (being Gene’s dark side) is first acknowledged as an adversary; and this is the turning point of Gene’s depiction of his enemy.
Through dying, Finny’s positive characteristic merged with those of Gene’s to allow Gene to see life from a whole new perspective. When Finny died Gene finally grasped just how dear Finny was to him, “I did not cry then or ever about Finny.[…] I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (194). This statement illustrates just how much a friend Finny was. This funeral was not Gene’s distant cousin whom Gene had only spoken to on occasion; rather this is Gene’s closest companion. Gene was so stricken by a plethora of emotions, that this feeling never removed itself from Gene’s mind.
Gene knew Finny so well that he was able to feel what he believes Finny must have felt. This is a connection that one does not have with any arbitrary human being, but a best friend whose attitude and observations can be simulated by past experience and constant scrutiny. Gene expresses this understanding when he describes his experiences during the war. Gene states, “I
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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” (204). This philosophy is that of Finny’s. It pertains to Finny’s ever-expanding spheres of loyalty that he would not be able to identify the enemy or validate the war. This also demonstrates what Gene has achieved since Finny’s death and Gene’s assimilation.
Beforehand, Gene was unable to restrain himself from potentially violent actions. Gene’s conflict with Quakenbush is an intense example of this: “‘You, Quakenbush, don’t know anything about who I am.’ That launched me, […] I hit him hard across the face” (79). The latest (Finny-like) Gene is not only the aggressor in these circumstances, he fails to realize them altogether due to adapting to Finny’s ever-expanding spheres of loyalty.
Finny’s death exposed Gene to a gateway of opportunities and insight that was once out of reach for Gene. Finny changed Gene for the better; he changed him in the way that only a best friend. The older and wiser Gene interjects judgments within the text about his current views on past occurrences that often are contrary to his adolescent beliefs. This is the chief indicator that Gene has grown emotionally and intellectually from his past. Gene was changed by the only one who ever made him show regret, the only one who remained by him until the end, and the only one to never recognize these deeds as anything out of the standard routine, Finny.