Hypnotism In A Separate Peace

“It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little.”-Gene (page 25). In the novel, “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, Gene and Finny had an underlying rivalry in their friendship. Throughout the story, Gene always felt there was a competition between himself and Finny, even on small things like sports and school. Gene’s jealousy and rivalry against Finny’s innocence put Finny’s life in danger and his belief of Finny being the “enemy” caused Finny’s death.

The “competition” between the two friends was not healthy for Gene or Finny. Gene was trying to be head of the school while
Gene created this competition between himself and Finny out of nothing, it was just a facade. Finny didn’t feel that way towards Gene, but Gene was too blindsighted to see that and caused him to do the reckless and dangerous act of making Finny fall. Gene visited Finny in the infirmary after his second fall and Finny asked Gene about what happened in the tree, “ It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing. Was that it?” (page 191; chapter 12). Gene’s illusion of Finny being the “enemy” took over their friendship and to Gene everything became a competition. Gene became so jealous of Finny [innocence] that he purposely shook the branch so Finny would get hurt; at that point it shows that the competition was affecting others not just himself. Finny thought that Gene had a blind impulse, but Gene knew deep inside that he wanted him to get hurt so he could be on top. I think that when Gene lied to Finny about the fall from the beginning, the danger was that Gene never told him and which ultimately led to Finny’s second fall and his death. To close this matter, Gene’s fictitious competition endangered and sadly ended Finny’s