Artificial Vs. Natural In A Separate Peace :: essays research papers

Someone once said that being yourself, being who you are, is a successful rebellion. gene Forrester, one of the main characters in John Knowless unfermented, 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 very like. Phineas, Genes best friend and the other main character in this novel, on the other hand, acted naturally around people. He was non afraid of people see 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 social functions. 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 cabaret inches before he became my roommate..." (Gene Pg. 8) an d 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(predicate) 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 vista 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 get over Finny run his life. When Finny skint 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.