A Separate Peace By John Knowles: No One Is Perfect
A Separate Peace, a novel by John Knowles, is a story about life among high school boys during World War II. One of the main characters, Phineas, is portrayed as perfect, almost godly, and liked by everyone. Although, he wasn’t perfect and he did have flaws that ultimately led to his death. Some of his flaws include him thinking everyone likes him and that everything is good natured, him constantly living in his own world and denying the truth, and being careless and risky throughout the novel.
One of his main flaws is that Finny thinks that everyone likes him and everyone is as good natured as him. When Finny was telling Gene, the narrator, that winter “loves him” he adds, “When you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love” (111). This is one example of how he perceives the world as innocent and good natured and ignoring that not everyone or everything will love you back. Another crucial example of this is his trust for Gene. Finny’s trust for Gene is shown when the two go to the beach alone, “. . . but after all you can’t come to the shore with just anybody and you can’t come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal. . . which is what you are” (48). Finny tells Gene how much he means to him and Gene almost responded but then hesitated saying to himself, “I should have told him then that he was my best friend also and rounded off what he had said. I started to, I nearly did. But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper thought, which contains the truth” (48). Even after this happened Finny continued to believe that Gene was truly his best friend and that he was loved back but deep down, Gene didn't. His blind trust in Gene is one factor that led to his death at the end of the novel.
Another one of Finny’s flaws is him constantly living in his own world and denying the truth. Early in the novel, Finny tells Gene that the war is non existent, “Do you really think that the United States of America is in a state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan? . . . there isn’t any war” (115). When Gene brings up the war around Finny he denies its existence and says that the whole war story is a “medicinal drug”. “The fat old men who don’t want us crowding them out of their jobs. They’ve made it all up (the war). There isn’t any real food shortage, for instance. The men have all the best steaks delivered to their clubs now” (115). Finny again denies the war and even denies food shortage. He chose to ignore the reality and makes up irrational explanations for things he wants to ignore or not believe.
A third flaw of Finny is being almost manipulative and too risky at times. Finny is seen using his persuasive tactics, for the better and for the worse. When Finny and Gene were caught missing dinner and almost got in trouble, Finny talked in a very persuasive manner to Mr Prud’homme, the substitute headmaster of Devon, and got him and Gene off the hook,. “Everything he said was true and sincere; Finny always said what he happened to be thinking, and if this stunned people then he was surprised. Mr Prud’homme released his breath with a sort of amazed laugh, stared at Finny for a while, and that was all to it” (23). After speaking to Mr. Prud’homme in a very persuasive manner he got himself and Gene out of trouble and that once it worked out for the better. Although, his manipulative and risky ways put others and himself in danger. Finny talked Gene into climbing the tree and Gene almost fell off, he could have died. Gene thought, “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me. I wouldn’t have been on that damn limb except for him” (33). Finny did save Gene’s life, but Gene wouldn’t have been in that position if Finny had not had him up there. Aside from putting others at risk, he also put himself at risk numerous times in the novel. One fatal example is when he was climbing the tree again with Gene, but that time he did fall, “Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud” (60). After falling out of the tree, he shatters his leg which led straight to his death, all because he was too risky.
Throughout A Separate Peace, John Knowles portrays Phineas as almost perfect but it is also shown that Finny is not perfect, that he has flaws that did ultimately lead to his death at the end of the novel. This can be a lesson for people all over the world who read this novel, that no one is truly perfect and that everyone has flaws.
