Реферат: Artificial Vs Natural In A Seperate Peace

people to know about it. “The worst thing is that there weren’t any witnesses.

Tomorrow. We’ll get the coach here, and all the official timekeepers, and

I’ll 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 Gene’s 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. “Don’t give me that line…You 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 o’clock.”

(Gene Pg. 42) This is just another example of how time, schedules, and

grades play an important part in Gene’s life. While at the beach, Finny

tells Gene that he is his “best pal”. Gene does not reply and tell him

that he is his best pal, but instead, keeps quiet. Instead of being completely

honest and open with Finny, Gene chooses to mask his true emotions. He

knew if someone ever found out about him saying something like that, that

it would be “the next thing to suicide”. (Gene Pg. 40) This obsession with

grades and other unnatural things leads Gene to believe that there is an

intense competition going on between himself and Finny. He convinces himself

that they are “even in enmity”. (Gene Pg. 46) He feels nervous about all

the influence Finny has over him and is suspicious about Finny always taking

him away from his studies. “Finny had deliberately set out to ruin my studies…it

was all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity.” (Gene