A Separate Peace Essay

Stephanie Tabone
October 6, 2004
Mrs. Rothbard
English 2, Period 3
A Separate Peace Essay

In, A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, Finny and Gene are “best friends.” Throughout all of the summer session at the Devon School, Finny and Gene are joined at the hip. However, although they are best friends, Finny and Gene are completely different. The main difference in their friendship is that Finny is more emotionally mature than Gene.
Gene shows his immaturity when he becomes extremely jealous of Finny and begins to think that Finny is jealous of him as well. Gene shows his belief that Finny is jealous of how smart he is and his immaturity when he says, “Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief when nausea passes away; I felt better. We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all” (45-46). However, there was never any jealousy on Finny’s side, and this is shown when Finny tells Gene to study for his tests. Finny shows that he wants Gene to do well when he says, “Don’t move from that desk. It’s going to be all A’s for you” (50). That comment, continues to prove that Finny is more of a steady person than Gene. He wants Gene to excel and do well at school, and he knows that the likelihood of that happening for him is small. He is realistic and that shows Finny’s maturity. An example of this is when Finny says, “’Listen, I could study forever and I’d never break a C’” (50). Finny knows his capabilities and accepts them. He knows he’s not that smart scholastically and doesn’t mind that. Additionally, Finny knows how athletic he is, and he knows that this is just a natural talent. Finny does not brag about his abilities, though. An example of this is when he beats the swimming record and says,”’ we aren’t going to talk about this. It’s just between you and me. Don’t say anything about it, to …anyone’” (36). Finny is a modest person. He is stable enough within himself and that comes with maturity. Gene has not reached this point yet. When he does, he will begin to come into his own and mature.
In conclusion, Finny is just an all around more complete person than Gene. He’s modest, secure, and a good friend. He accepts the good and bad qualities about himself. Gene has yet to accept himself as a person. For all these reasons, Finny is more mature than Gene is. Finny, still being young, has a long way to go, but I believe he will get there eventually.