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Inner Demons

 

            "The thought was, "You and Phineas are even already.
             You are both coldly driving forward for yourselves alone. .
             You did hate him for breaking that school swimming record, but so .
             what? He hated you for getting an A in every course but one last.
             term. You would have had an A in that one except for him. Except .
             for him."" .
             This is what Gene Forrester thought of Phineas (Finny) in John Knowles book, A Separate Peace. Gene absolutely hated Finny, but continues to pretend to be Finny's best friend. At the end of the book, Gene learns that it was not Phineas who was his enemy, but the inner demons of hate, envy, and jealousy. Gene learns he staged a war against Phineas because he had "something ignorant in the heart". Gene finds out he also "was on duty [his] whole time at school," As Gene says, "I killed my enemy there." So Gene understands his enemy must have been the demons within him. Gene also knew of this fear of being second best and of jealousy, but he could not face it. He decided to change his enemy from the demons to his best friend Finny. Then he built " these Maginot Lines against this enemy [he] thought [he] saw across the frontier if he was indeed the enemy." .
             Gene was full of ignorance at the Devon School. Gene was jealous of Phineas and could not face how jealous he was. Once, Finny wore a pink shirt and the Devon school tie as a belt. When the substitute dean noticed this, Gene thought Finny would have been finally caught for breaking the school policy. He was wrong, Phineas once again broke a school rule and got away with it. Gene is quoted for saying, "I felt a sudden stab of disappointment. That was because I just wanted to see some more excitement; that must have been it." Also, when Finny breaks a school swimming record without a day of practice, Gene develops an even worse case of the green flu. "Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it.


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