On pages 52-54, how does Gene’s view of their relationship change? (Be sure to explain his usage of enmity). What does he think of it? How do you know this? Why does he feel this way? Do you think it is accurate? Why or why not? - Medina
In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene see’s his friendship with Finny differently after
he had some thoughts about whether Finny was actually his friend or if Finny was just trying to bring
him down. Gene see’s Finny as someone who is trying to prevent him from getting good grades in
school rather than as his best pal like he viewed him before. Gene believes that all the things Finny
would do with him was just meant to take away time from him studying. Gene thinks to himself,
“That explained Blitzball, that explained the Nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that
explained his insistence that I share all his diversions.”(53) This shows that Gene thinks that Finny
invited him to these things just so that Gene could do worse in school. Gene convinces himself that
Finny calculated all of this just so that he could get ahead of Gene. It is clear that Gene thinks this
due to what he thinks to himself. Gene thinks to himself that, “It was all cold trickery, it was all
calculated, it was all enmity.”(53) Gene feels this way because he believes that everything Finny
does is meant to benefit himself, not benefit anybody else. It is clear that Gene feels this way because
while he was comparing Finny to Chet Douglass, he said, “You are both coldly driving ahead for
yourselves alone.”(53) What Gene was saying is not accurate. Gene was overthinking things and was
desperate to find something he could rely on, so he ended up relying on his theoretical statement that
popped up in his head. While thinking to himself, he thinks that his mind is, “despairingly in search of
something left which it could rely on.”(53) This shows that he was overthinking and just needed
something to make him feel better. Knowles show’s Gene overthinking to show his struggle of coming
of age.
he had some thoughts about whether Finny was actually his friend or if Finny was just trying to bring
him down. Gene see’s Finny as someone who is trying to prevent him from getting good grades in
school rather than as his best pal like he viewed him before. Gene believes that all the things Finny
would do with him was just meant to take away time from him studying. Gene thinks to himself,
“That explained Blitzball, that explained the Nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that
explained his insistence that I share all his diversions.”(53) This shows that Gene thinks that Finny
invited him to these things just so that Gene could do worse in school. Gene convinces himself that
Finny calculated all of this just so that he could get ahead of Gene. It is clear that Gene thinks this
due to what he thinks to himself. Gene thinks to himself that, “It was all cold trickery, it was all
calculated, it was all enmity.”(53) Gene feels this way because he believes that everything Finny
does is meant to benefit himself, not benefit anybody else. It is clear that Gene feels this way because
while he was comparing Finny to Chet Douglass, he said, “You are both coldly driving ahead for
yourselves alone.”(53) What Gene was saying is not accurate. Gene was overthinking things and was
desperate to find something he could rely on, so he ended up relying on his theoretical statement that
popped up in his head. While thinking to himself, he thinks that his mind is, “despairingly in search of
something left which it could rely on.”(53) This shows that he was overthinking and just needed
something to make him feel better. Knowles show’s Gene overthinking to show his struggle of coming
of age.
Questions:
- Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
- Do you think Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies? Why or why not?
- Do you think things will go back to normal between Finny and Gene? If so, will they go back to
normal quickly or slowly? Explain why you chose one of the two? If you do not think it’ll go back to
normal, explain why?
Do you think things will go back to normal between Finny and Gene? If so, will they go back to
ReplyDeletenormal quickly or slowly? Explain why you chose one of the two? If you do not think it’ll go back to
normal, explain why?
Yes I think things will go back to normal but to Gene's normal which is him being jealous of Finny. That is what is normal for him from the beginning of the book. I don't believe that Gene will continue thinking that Finny is trying to destroy his grades in an effort to be better than him but Gene will always be jealous of Finny. I think he will always be jealous of Finny because he has very low self esteem, he thinks that Finny is better than him and that's basically why he's friends with him which in reality really doesn't make a healthy relationship.
ReplyDelete- Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
In this reading Gene debates with himself a lot. He’s trying to decide who is better but I think he is overreacting to the whole situation. He plans out in his head that Finny is better at sports and Gene is better at academics but he also decides that he is decent at athletics so he is better than Finny. Near the middle of the chapter Gene is studying so that he can do well on his tests. But then Gene enters the room and asks if he wants to go and watch Leper jump off the tree into the water. It’s not until that moment that Gene realizes that Finny doesn’t think of the two of them as a competition as much as Gene does. For these reasons I believe that Gene was overreacting and overthinking the friendship between the two.
Do you think Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI do not think Finny's intentions were to disrupt Genes studies. From my perspective I simply see Finny as carefree with genuinely no intention of taking life seriously. However, the version of Finny that Gene created in his head is different. Despite Finny's carefree attitude Finny generally succeeds in whatever he does, which seems to bother Gene. Gene most likely does not understand Finny's complete disregard for seriousness, and is also annoyed by Finny always being ahead of him. Therefore Gene believes that Finny must be trying to take away from his success, when in reality he is acting as he always does.
Do you think Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, Gene is a very unreliable narrator. Throughout the chapters we have read, we have been shown that Finny is not as bad as Gene is making him out to be, and that most of what we’re reading is exaggerated. I do not think that Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies, because towards the end of the reading Finny tells Gene how he wishes he had a brain like Genes. By doing this, Finny is showing that he never wanted to hurt Gene in any way, and had no intentions of disrupting his studies.
Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteDuring this reading, Gene begins to believe that the whole time Finny and him have been friends, Finny has been trying to get power over him. Although there is some evidence that this may be happening, I believe Gene is over exaggerating it. Based on how Finny has been presented so far, he’s presented as a big ego-ed trickster. That does make it understandable why Gene might think he’d try to manipulate him. But I don’t understand why he thinks that if Finny wanted to do this to someone, why would he choose to do it over someone who, in many areas, is just as powerful as him. Also, why would he choose to spend every moment with him if he doesn’t actually like him. It doesn’t make logical sense to me. Gene’s skepticism of Finny could create a big issue with their relationship. How do you think this will affect the rest of the book?
Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteYes, I do belive that Gene was over reacting to the whole “sabotaging” thought he had about Finny. Since, the book is written in Gene’s point of view, the reader is accustomed to Gene’s personality as well as flaws. One flaw of Gene, is that he always is worrying about not being good enough to be friends with Finny and always trying to impress him. I feel as though Gene is almost most of the time over thinking many things instead of being himself. Gene get’s so caught up in always trying to impress Finny that he always tries to think of a way to feel better about himself by “one upping” Finny. I think Gene genuinely over thought the whole sabotage he thought Finny was doing to him. We see this at the end of the chapter, when Finny actually understands that Gene needs to study and how he was totally acceptive of the fact that Gene needed to study.
I think that Gene was overreacting when he assumed that everything Finny had done was simply to sabotage him. While reading the book the reader only gets to see things from Gene's viewpoint so it seems as though Finny is acting with malicious intent but if you read through what happens it seems more like he is just trying to have a fun summer with his friend. Gene thinks Finny is perfect and can't see any flaws in him so he creates one. I don't think that Finny's intent was to interrupt Gene's studies because going to the tree to meet for the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session was a normal thing for them and he looked genuinely shocked even through Gene's eyes when Gene snapped at him. I think it will take a long time for things to get back to normal, if they do at all. This is the first time in the book that we have seen Finny truly rattled.
ReplyDeleteDo you think things will go back to normal between Finny and Gene? If so, will they go back to
ReplyDeletenormal quickly or slowly? Explain why you chose one of the two? If you do not think it’ll go back to
normal, explain why?
I do not think Gene and Finny’s relationship will return to being completely normal again. In the reading, Gene makes it obvious he feels somewhat envious and jealous of Finny. In order to maintain a healthy friendship, nobody should feel inferior to another and being jealous of a friend makes it even harder. In addition, Finny and Gene are around each other all the time but Gene’s feelings of jealousy make it hard for them to have a true friendship. Gene has also convinced himself that Finny is trying to destroy his grades which will make it even harder to repair their friendship. From the start, Gene has only been friends with Finny because he looks at him like he is superior, which brings up the question of whether their friendship was even real from the jump.
Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteThroughout this entire chapter it seems as if Gene is stuck in his own head, and we are stuck in his head with him. Most of Genes thoughts are impulsive, and a lot of what we read is his stream of conciseness. He starts to overthink everything and questions if his relationship with Finny is real, or just a hoax and Finny is trying to sabotage his life. From this unreliable first person point of view it is difficult to understand wether Finny's actions are out of envy, or love. Although, I think Finny cares about Gene a lot and is trying to turn a dark time in both of their lives into something bright and eventful. Towards the end of chapter four Finny excitedly enters their room and tells Gene to come and watch Leper jump from the tree. Gene then proceeds to get up and call Finny out, "'Oh for God sake! You don't know what I'm talking about. No, of course not. Not you." (57) Finny, completely oblivious to what Gene is talking about, tells Gene to stay and continue to work. Gene is confused and then suddenly understands that he was in his head the whole time about being "even".
Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Gene did overreact, in his head he makes Finny out to be someone who only cares about himself, when in reality this is not true. Gene looks up to Finny so much that he begins to seem too good to be true, so he starts to blow the flaws that Finny has out of proportion. A Separate Peace is written in the perspective of Gene who is looking back on old memories. So we don't get to see Finny's point of view, and after a lot of time people tend to over dramatize things. There was already a small rivalry between Finny and Gene, we can see this when Gene resents Finny after he succeeds. This makes it easy for Gene to assume that Finny has never been his real friend and has always just been competing with him. The best thing that Gene could have done is take a step back and try to see things from Finny's point of view. But instead of being logical Gene puts together a false story in his head and overreacts to Finny.
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ReplyDeleteDo you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Gene is blowing things way out of proportion because of his affection for Finny. His affection towards him most likely makes him think these thoughts so often. Earlier this week, we discussed about how the story is being told by Gene’s point of view. So during this story we never get to see Finny’s version of the story. Also, the rivalry between Gene and Finny on whos the better student most likely fueled some of the emotions Gene has towards Finny. I believe that Finny is trying his best to be a good friend to Gene but because of Gene’s crazy imagination and fake story of Finny, more and more they are going to seperate as friends. This is exactly the opposite of what Gene wants because he’s madly affectionate towards Gene. If Gene keeps this behavior going, eventually his relationship with Finny will be no more.
- Do you think Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Finny’s intentions were to disrupt Gene’s studies. Although Gene may be an unreliable narrator, it can be found that all Finny wants is to enjoy his time at Devon with his friends without the thought of the hovering war that shadows over them. He makes efforts by creating the game Blitzball and the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Seccion, all attempts at creating a care free space to have fun. Finny wasn’t trying to prevent Gene from studying but was rather trying to be a good friend. Although Gene may feel that Finny is trying to be better than him, Finny confesses that he thought that Gene’s skills came naturally to him and he even tried to let Gene study more before he caved and joined him at the tree.
Do you think Finny’s intentions all along were to disrupt Gene’s studies? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Finny's actions were ever intended to disrupt Gene's studies. After seeing Gene being very annoyed because of his request for his to see the unlikely jump of Leper, Finny showed a brand new side of him by saying that Gene should stay and study. This on top of all the other activities like the SSSS was just Finny trying to get Gene to have some fun. His lack experience with getting good grades lead him to think that it was like sports: " 'I didn't know you had to study,' he said simply, 'I didn't think you ever did. I thought it just came to you.' " Through this scene, Finny proves himself to be a good friend who wouldn't try to bring another friend down.
- Do you think Gene is overreacting? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene is overreacting. Finny said one thing and Gene's view on his best friend changed completely. He should have stayed calm and asked Finny because he could have easily made an error in thinking that. I think that he should go to Finny and confront him on the matter so he could get some closure. Also, the story is form Gene's point of view, so his memory could be a little foggy. Or, he could just be exaggerating.