A Separate Peace: the Incident at the Tree

Nicole Tu Mr. Lavato English 2A, Period 1 10 September, 2012 The Incident at the Tree In the novel, A illuminate Peace by John Knowles, factor Forrester and Phineas, also known as Finny, are best friends who have a very deep friendship. However, as the write up progresses, Gene began to develop feelings of graspingy for Finny when he saw how perfect Finnys character is. Finny has always been able to talk his way out of trouble and is by nature a good athlete who is earnest, confident, & pure.On the other hand, Gene cannot be pure give care Finny and feels insecure. Seeing how good Finny is, caused Gene to become jealous, I was beginning to gain that Phineas could get away with anything, I couldnt help envying him (ch2. 20) Soon, Gene thinks that a rivalry is happening between them. Because Gene envies Finnys character, he thinks that Finny is also jealous of him for his good academic performance, I felt better. Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief We were even after all T he deadly rivalry was on both sides after all. (ch4. 4). By thinking there is a competition between them, Gene feels at ease, because none of them is better than the other. One night, Finny announced that Leper impart jump off the tree, in order to become a full member of their secret society. Gene didnt want to go because he feared his denounce would slip if he didnt study and also thinks that Leper wouldnt dare to jump off the tree. After hearing from Gene that he wanted to study, Finny was surprisal because he thought that Gene was naturally intelligent, who doesnt need to review for a test.With sincerity, Finny lets Gene study, but Gene changed his mind and would come along with Finny. On the way to the tree,Gene realizes that a competition never happened and it was just Gene that was envious of Finny. Because Gene saw Finnys goodness and innocence, Gene realizes a rivalry with Finny will never occur. Gene began to feel angry with himself because he has been mistaken the whole time. Most importantly, no matter what Gene does he will never be like Finny. there never was and never could have been any rivalryI am not the same quality as he. (ch4. 72) After much thinking, Finny and Gene soon reached the tree and Finny suggested that the two make a double-jump, which Gene agreed to do and followed Finny up the tree. Gene was by now, feeling anger jealously, and for a bout second, he became overwhelm with his emotions and jounced the tree limb. With the lost of balance, Finny fell off the tree and broke his leg.