We continue to learn more and more about the secret hate that Gene Forrester has for his presumed best friend, whom he affectionately calls “Finny.” In the last section of the reading, Gene illustrates that he does have a secret hatred towards Finny, because Finny is everything that Gene is not. Though Gene is an almost straight-A student (mentioned in Chapter 4) and Finny can “hardly break a C”, Finny has athletic capability like no other. One quote that I found particularly amusing in Chapter 4 was Finny addressing Gene: “If I had a brain like that, I’d—I’d have my brain cut open so people could look at it” (page 58). Using the tree as an analogy, Finny is the one who can jump the farthest and reach the deeper water. In a way, this competition keeps Gene on his toes. However this opposition also drives the hatred that Gene holds for Finny so deep that he would go out of his way to hurt him. Destroying Gene would be the only obstacle that Gene had to clear in order to make himself the best boy at the Devon School. His competition would be nonexistent—his type would be a monopoly. Like Hiren mentioned in his last post, Gene needed Finny for the protective shadow he cast upon him, and Finny needed Gene as someone to listen, teach, love and learn with. But perhaps the worst thing out of this whole mess that Gene created was the fact that Gene no longer had anyone to compete with.
This section of the reading also introduces regret. Regret is defined as: to feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that has happened or been done, esp. a loss or missed opportunity): she immediately regretted her words. Gene must have felt absolutely terrible because of the incident. Not only because it was he who shook the branch that nearly killed (and even worse; destroyed Finny’s life) but it was Gene who almost opted out of jumping that night. I wonder what almost prevented Gene from going to his Suicide group that night. It was possible this comment that he was thinking before the accident: “Any fear I had ever had of the tree was nothing beside this. It wasn’t my neck, but my understanding, which was menaced. He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not the same quality as he” (Chapter 4).
In a way it surprised me that Gene Forrester would intentionally do this to his friend. I didn’t expect this menacing act—no matter how much Finny was hated by Gene.
Another element of A Separate Peace that surprised me was when Gene tried on Finny’s clothes. I wondered if he preformed this act to see how much he was becoming a Finny—reckless yet daring, extreme yet sincere, and a winner at heart. When he tried on a particularly strapping shirt of Finny’s, he saw something else: “it was no aristocrat I had become, no character out of daydreams” (Chapter 5). Gene was so shocked when he tried on his lost companions clothes that he didn’t even recede to dinner that evening. What a profound impact—clothes so closely resemble a person, but does not identify one.
Overall I love the book and the depth within it. In a way it reminds me of the movie GATTACA because Gene (no pun intended!) is trying so hard to be someone that he is destined not to be. Destiny did not want Gene to be as physically and emotionally resilient as it had meant for Finny. I can’t wait to read on… I predict that Finny dies. Evil is only as evil as the consequences. Hiren, if Finny did die (and maybe he does in this next section) would the consequences be greater than if he were to be crippled for the remainder of his life? Would the consequences be greater upon Gene?
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