Реферат: Artificial Vs Natural In A Seperate Peace

Artificial Vs. Natural In A Seperate Peace Essay, Research Paper

Someone once said that being yourself,

being who you are, is a successful rebellion. Gene Forrester, one of the

main characters in John Knowles’s 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, Gene’s 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 Knowles’s 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 Finny’s 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 Gene’s 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

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