Artificial Vs. Natural In A Separate Peace Essay Example For Students

Artificial Vs. Natural In A Separate Peace Essay Someone once said that being yourself, being who you are, is a successful rebellion. Gene Forrester, one of the main characters in John Knowless novel, A Separate Peace should have taken this advice. Throughout the novel, Gene acted artificially, disguising his true self. He lived in fear of people finding out what he was really like. Phineas, Genes best friend and the other main character in this novel, on the other hand, acted naturally around people. He was not afraid of people seeing who he really was. In John Knowless novel, A Separate Peace, Gene acted artificially, while Phineas acted naturally. To begin with, Gene Forrester acted artificially. There are several instances throughout the novel where Gene disguises himself or is influenced by artificial things. Towards the beginning of the novel Gene tells the reader that he was a half inch taller than Finny (I had been claiming five feet nine inches before he became my roommate (Gene Pg. 8) and that Finny weighed ten pounds more than he did. He weighed a hundred and fifty pounds, a galling ten pounds more than I did (Gene Pg. 8) Because Gene mentioned those facts, the reader can tell that even having a slight height and weight advantage or disadvantage to Finny were important to him. What people, especially Finny, thought about him worried him. . ..I would have lost face with Phineas, and that would have been unthinkable. (Gene Pg. 26) Later in the novel, when Finny wanted to wear a pink shirt to school, Gene told him it would make him look like a fairy. Pink! It makes you look like a fairy! (Gene Pg. 17) Gene knew that people might question Finnys masculinity and ridicule him so he spoke up. Gene would have never taken such a risk as wearing a pink shirt because it was not socially acceptable at Devon School. This again points out Genes obsession with what people thought of him. Gene had a cautious, competitive nature and let grades and trying to outdo Finny run his life. When Finny broke the schools swimming record, Gene did not understand why he did not want people to know about it. The worst thing is that there werent any witnesses. Tomorrow. Well get the coach here, and all the official timekeepers, and Ill call up the Devonian and send a reporter and a photographer- Not say anything about it! When you broke the school record! (Gene Pg. 36) Gene would have wanted awards and praise for breaking a school record which shows again how highly he values artificial things. Grades also played an important part in Genes life and he measured himself by what his class rank was. He pretended to not care about his studies, but Finny saw right through him. Dont give me that lineYou want to be head of the class, valedictorian, so you can make a speech on Graduation Day. ..I know you. (Finny Pg. 43) Later on, Finny convinces Gene to go to the beach with him. While Finny runs and frolics in the water, having a good time, enjoying nature, Gene only worries about what time it is and whether he will be able to pass his exam. I looked at the sky and the ocean and knew it was around six-thirty. The ride back to Devon would take three hours at least. My important test, trigonometry, was going to be held at ten oclock. (Gene Pg. 42) This is just another example of how time, schedules, and grades play an important part in Genes life. While at the beach, Finny tells Gene that he is his best pal. In Cold Blood: Summary Essay.we arent going to talk about this. Its just between you and me. Dont say anything about it, to. ..anyone. (Finny Pg. 36) He didnt want attention, he just wanted to see is he could break the record. Finny believed that : Everyone always won at sports. When you played a game, you won, in the same way as when you sat down to a meal you ate it. It inevitably and naturally followed. (Gene pg. 27) Finny never permitted himself to realize that when you won, they lost. That would have destroyed the perfect beauty which was sport. Nothing bad ever happened in sports; they were the absolute good. (Gene Pg. 27) Finnys attitude towards sports is similar to his personality as a whole. He was innocent and never caused anyone harm purposely and believed everyone was the same way. When he told Gene that he wanted to participate in the war, Gene replied by saying: . ..Youd be sitting at one of their command posts, teaching them English. Yes, youd get confused and borrow one of their uniforms, and youd lend them one of yours. ..Youd get things so scrambled up nobody would know how to fight any more. Youd make a mess, a terrible mess, Finny, out of the war. (Gene Pg. 182) Gene knew what kind of person Finny was and knew that he was not cut out for the war. Being the natural person that he was, he enjoyed nature and ran around and frolicked while at the beach with Gene. This kind of sunshine and ocean, with the accumulating roar of surf and the salt, adventurous, flirting wind from the sea, always intoxicated Phineas. He was everywhere. He enjoyed himself hugely, he laughed out loud at passing sea gulls. And he did everything he could think of for me. (Gene Pg. 39) He had honest. open relationships with people, and unlike Gene, was not afraid of what people thought of him. He told Gene he was his best pal, knowing that .. .exposing a sincere emotion nakedly like that at Devon School was the next thing to suicide (Gene Pg. 40). He had tremendous loyalty to the class, as he did to any group he belonged to, beginning with him and me and radiating outward towards spirits and clouds and stars. (Gene Pg. 34) He created Blitzball, a game which brought his own athletic gifts to their highest pitch. (Gene Pg. 31) He had a desire to do good mixed in with a disregard for the rules. He could talk himself out of any situation and was described by Gene as being able to shine. After realizing that he had been wrong about the competition between himself and Finny, Gene came to the conclusion that Only Phineas was never afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone all of them, except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against the enemy (Gene Pg. 196) In John Knowless novel, A Separate Peace, Finny acts naturally, while Gene acts artificially. Gene disguises himself and is constantly worried about peoples opinions of him. His obsession with grades and outdoing Finny causes him to believe that they are in competition. Finny, on the other hand, is spontaneous, innocent, and natural. He does not worry about praise or awards, but instead plays sports for pure enjoyment, and has honest, open relationships with people. Both Finny and Gene are very alike physically, but emotionally and mentally, they are as different as two people can be.