A Separate Peace

4 Pages 938 Words

THE SEPARATE PEACE ESSAY
Most of us would find it hard to believe that someone could live their life without the support of a friend. Everyone needs a friend, someone they can be open and honest with and who they can trust, someone who is also loyal and most of all committed and supportive. People have friends to share experiences with, go to concerts, athletic events, parties, essentially share the events of their lives with each other. In the book, A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, Finny and Gene display the qualities that lie at the heart of any significant and meaningful friendship; honesty, loyalty, and mutual support. However, when one of these qualities gets too far out of balance, their relationship is threatened by unmet needs, and both characters struggle if not suffer because of it. Gene was a very loyal friend to Finny. Gene stood by Finny until the very end. Phineas had trusted Gene very much because he knew that Gene was loyal to him. When Finny had broken the school record in freestyle-swimming, he said, ?Don?t say anything about it, to ? anyone.? Gene then said, ?Not say anything about it! When you broke the school record!? Phineas had trusted Gene to keep this secret because he was loyal. Phineas knew that Gene would not say anything about it, that is why he ended the argument right then and there. Because Gene showed so many times that he was a loyal and a good friend to Finny, Brinker became jealous. That is the reason that he had the questioning at the Butt Room and later at the stadium in the auditorium. Gene thought that Finny was not loyal to him because he kept Gene from studying. Gene and Finny?s friendship was based on a competition. So when Finny prevented Gene?s studying, Gene retaliated by preventing Finny from doing sports. In the end, though Gene didn?t mean it, he was the cause of Finny?s death. Loyalty is an important quality that a friendship needs, and if it isn?t there, the friendship can?...