A seperate peace

Betrayal is such a heinous thing, but it seems to be quite common in what the naked eye would view as a friendship. It’s almost as if the closer two people become, the more unseen motifs there are growing between them. This is especially true in the novel, A Separate Peace, with schoolmates Gene and Phineas. From the outside looking in, the two boys come off as the best of friends. Rooming together, skipping school, and even creating their own, “Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session.” But deep down there is always that sense that not everything is truly how it seems.

Gene definitely has some ulterior motifs that are never clearly addressed, but seen. When the boys are at the beach and Gene refrains from letting Finny know that he too, is his best friend as well, a different mood is put into motion. Though it isn’t until Gene puts on Finny’s shirt and claims he is, “Phineas to the life,” and no longer confused about his identity, that things take a major twist. Once thought to be best friends, the two are now secret enemies. Gene takes pleasure in Finny’s absence, and wants nothing more to be Phineas himself. This is no longer a story of a schoolmate bromance, but of one boy trying to find himself, no matter the cost.

Finny’s death was vital to the novel and if it wasn’t for Gene betraying him by causing his fall of the tree earlier on, Finny may have never died during surgery after his second injury. The death of Finny was what truly taught Gene the way of living. It finally brought a separation between Gene and Phineas, and allowed Gene to really find his own identity.

Through all of the betrayal Gene expressed towards Phineas he ultimately learned that the true enemy was within himself, and within each and every one of us, and that in the end, inner peace is achieved only after fighting one’s own private war of growing up. Gene hated that Finny was always at peace with everything even when debilitated.