Are human beings mostly good or mostly evil? Does the potential for evil exist in all people? In what ways do people fight internal wars throughout their lives with real or imagined enemies? In what ways does a person s perception of the world affect the way he/she copes with life in general? John Knowles s A Separate Peace sets out to teach readers how a person s perception of the world controls his/her actions, and how an individual s fears and insecurities are the true enemy. Through indirect and direct characterization, John Knowles shows what happens when people allow their feelings of inadequacy, and envy to overpower their better judgment releasing the savage side humanity is burdened to carry. The main characters of Phineas (Finny) and Gene Forrester along with the minor characters of Leper Lepellier, and Brinker Hadley epitomize the fact that there are many types of human beings, and each person s potential for good or evil is determined not only by how they perceive the world, but also how they cope with life s battles. Knowles uses Gene s internal dialogue and first person narration to reveal Gene s character, presenting readers with several themes: people often imagine an enemy where there is none, and envy can drive a person to hurt another. At first, Gene struggles to understand his feelings of resentment toward Finny s extroverted personality, charm and athletic ability. Gene cannot pinpoint the truth about his own emotions, which make him feel uncomfortable about telling Finny he too considered him a best friend. However, as Finny encourages Gene to break the rules and study less, Gene s perception of their friendship changes and Gene sees Finny as his enemy. Gene envies Finny s charisma, and hates the fact Finny broke the school s swimming record. It is Gene s feelings of inadequacy about his own charm and athletic skills, which make him imagine that,
Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. It was all cold trickery; it was calculated; it was all enmity (53). Gene s negative emotions get the best of him, and he no longer perceives Finny as a trusting friend. Instead, Gene begins to perceive the world negatively, a place where he and Finny are fierce competitors, where they must strive to out do and outshine each other in academics or in sport. In Gene s mind, Finny s individuality, fearlessness, and passion for life undermine and sabotage who Gene perceives he is in contrast. So, to protect his pride from anymore of Finny s adventures, Gene jounces the limb on the tree before Finny is ready to jump to punish Finny and to prove to himself he is different. Gene says, I was not of the same quality as he (59), so even when Gene recognizes there was no rivalry between them, Gene s envy of Finny s personality drives him to want to injure Finny. Using the direct characterization of Gene s internal thoughts, Knowles wants us to understand that the true enemy here was Gene s envy, and it is this envy which unleashes the potential for evil the minute Gene sees an opportunity to weaken and hurt Finny so he can feel even with Finny. Finny is just a perceived rival in Gene s mind, but he is Gene s foil. He is not jealous and manipulative as Gene characterizes him. Knowles uses indirect characterization describing Finny through Gene s eyes. At times, Gene becomes an unreliable narrator because Gene s opinions about Finny cloud readers own judgment of Finny s true intentions. Gene sees Finny as a threat, yet he also deifies him, and makes him seem like someone who can do no wrong, and never get hurt. Knowles again wants readers to see the difference between Finny and Gene s personalities and perceptions of the world. Finny epitomizes innocence, and pure intent. Gene tells us that Finny s life was ruled by inspiration and anarchy, and so he prized a set of rules. His own, not those 2
imposed on him by other people (34). However, although Finny lived by his own rules, he was not safe from the rules and expectations of others, especially Gene s. Finny did not believe in competition. He thought, You always win at sport (35), meaning everyone won. When Finny beats the school swimming record, and tells Gene he does not want anyone to know, he simply wanted to see if he could do it, Knowles uses both direct and indirect characterization revealing Gene s thoughts about Finny and describing Finny s personality, words and actions. The reader learns through Finny s characterization that for him life is not about accolades or one-upping others. Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone. (204). Finny was mostly good, and he was by nature someone who carried others (179). Finny tried to bring out the best in Gene, but Gene could not recognize the good in himself or in others. Finny s good intentions only made Gene feel more insecure, enough to drive him to destroy Finny. Knowles characterization of Finny through Gene s eyes makes readers doubt Finny s good intentions at the beginning of the novel. Readers fall victim to Gene s negative perception of the world, but throughout the novel, Knowles opens readers eyes to see Finny is not to blame for Gene s feelings and actions, it is Gene who makes up an enemy in his head. While Knowles characterizes Gene and Finny as having opposite views of the world, he uses the characters of Leper Lepellier, and Brinker Hadley to show other different types of people, how their unique perceptions control their actions and how they wage wars within making them unable to cope with life s battles. Leper s character exists to reveal Gene s savageness, but also to reveal a person s inability to face reality head on. Knowles chooses this character s name deliberately since Leper is a leper, an outcast, 3
who Gene rejects and cannot feel empathy for even after Leper confides he had a mental breakdown due to the difficult conditions he lived through. Gene does not care about Leper s experiences. Gene says, As a last defense I had always taken refuge in a scornful superiority, based on nothing, (144) to show readers how he chooses to reject and scoff at anything Leper tries to tell him. Gene even runs away while Leper is in mid sentence telling his story, which shows Gene s selfishness and cruelty for not being sympathetic to Leper s feelings. If the situation does not directly involve Gene, or if Gene s needs are not being met, then Gene is unable to empathize or sympathize for another human being s turmoil. Knowles also uses Leper s speech, actions and Gene s thoughts to teach readers that there are people who are unable to cope; they are outcasts who live as victims of their own inability to face fears and of those who are selfish and unsympathetic like Gene. Leper experiences altered states of reality because he is afraid. He does not have the coping skills to deal with his fears so he breaks downs and escapes life. Leper cannot face the reality of war, so he loses the war within himself, and he lives up to his name by becoming a leper of society. Like Leper, Brinker s characterization also shows the darker side of humanity. Brinker s character also exists to show how both Gene and Finny deteriorate. Brinker s search for justice backfires and instead of bringing truth to light as he intended, Brinker indirectly drives Finny to his death. Brinker wages war within himself and others as he struggles to understand what happened to Finny. He wants to be the one responsible for bringing forth the truth, but in the end, the battle for truth creates more trauma than it s worth, pushing Finny to accept a truth he does not want to face, that Gene intentionally set out to hurt him. Brinker s character forces Finny to recognize Gene s potential for 4
evil, and for Finny this is too much to bear. Knowles indirect and direct characterization of Brinker s speech and actions and their effect on Finny remind us that there are people who will seek truth at all costs, and sometimes the truth can do more harm than good. Brinker set out to be a good person, but inadvertently did more harm than good because he could not cope if he did not find justification for Finny s injury. A Separate Peace teaches readers there is not much difference between the large scale wars countries wage on each other on physical battlefields and the internal wars people may intentionally or unintentionally wage against themselves or another person or people. In all cases, Knowles wants readers to understand war is about perception and as Gene says in the end, when the enemy has been sighted, so begins the obsessive labor of defense (204). 5