Gene's Everyman Qualities

A Separate Peace is a novel concerning a young teenager, Gene, and his attempt to understand himself and the surrounding world. He experiences many real life situations and goes through many rough times as he narrates the story through his own eyes, recollecting his experiences during the summer session at the Devon School. In order to draw the reader into the book, John Knowles makes Gene seem like an average kid facing tough problems so that not only is the reader able to relate to, but can also experience the situations Gene endures. The author constructs the novel to give the character Gene everyman qualities through the use of a contrasting character, carefully thought out setting, and manipulative plot.

The character "Finny" in the novel is used to contrast Gene's everyman qualities. First of all, Finny is Gene's best friend, however, Gene is jealous of Finny because he always gets out of tight situations by talking his way out with the teachers and also because Finny is practically perfect in every way and resembles a God-like figure in the novel. For instance, Finny is admired by the teachers and students at Devon for his athletic ability and his carefree, spontaneous ways. This jealousy is one of the everyman qualities that is portrayed throughout the novel and having Finny as his friend initiates this jealousy. Secondly, Finny contrasts Gene's fear as an everyman by showing how he is able to jump off of the tree branch into the river with no problems, but when Gene tries he becomes exceedingly scared and freezes once he gets to the top. This illustrates how Gene is frightened and shows signs of fright while Finny contrasts that and has no fear when jumping from the branch making Gene's character seem a lot weaker than Finny's. Finally, Gene idolizes Finny and strives to be like him. This idolizing characteristic found in Gene is one which can be found in many average people who need somebody to look up to and admire since they aren't satisfied with themselves and their own personal image. This trait is contrasted by Finny who does not mention having any heroes or idols in his life since he is happy with who he is and doesn't try to be like someone else. Overall, the author uses Finny to contrast the everyman qualities in Gene by making Finny a very highly skilled and well-liked character in the novel while Gene is the everyman that the reader can relate to.

Second, the author chooses a setting which is carefully thought out so there are many opportunities for the boys to misbehave and show their qualities. Since the boys are in school surroundings, they are less monitored and have minimal parental supervision. This lets Finny and Gene do practically anything they want. For instance, when Finny causes Gene to miss dinner it shows how Finny has substantially high amount of control over Gene and demonstrates the quality of everymen being easily persuaded. Furthermore, the war setting allows Gene to show qualities of bravery. Since the school is preparing young teenagers for war, there are many activities and areas that are on the school grounds meant to strengthen the kids. This setting allows Gene to show his bravery when he jumps off of the tree branch into the river each day at club