Many people who have read A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, ask themselves who suffered
more, Gene or Finny? Well, a reader will find it obvious that Finny suffered more just by
reading his forceful shout, "Because I've suffered!" (Knowles Pg. 945 ). Phineas, who lost his
leg, his friendship with a best friend, and his life, indefinitely suffered the most in A Separate
The first item on the suffrage list is of course, the leg break. If a reader were to look at
the first paragraph on page 925 in the Elements Of Literature textbook, he or she will see that
Finny's leg is described by the intense word "shattered." What John Knowles was trying to show
the readers by using such a strong word was that not only was Finny's leg shattered, but his life
was as well. Think about it. With a shattered leg, Finny could barely walk, and surely never
play sports again. And if the use of the word shattered is not enough for someone to believe so,
they could look in the second column on page 925 where Finny and Dr. Stanpole are talking
about the break. Dr. Stanpole comes right out and says, "He'll be walking again." Dr. Stanpole
also says, "Sports are finished for him after an accident like that. Of course." Well when Finny
finds out about this, of course his life is going to be shattered; sports were his life, and now he
cannot even compete in them. And if you were to read prior to all of this at the beginning of the
conversation, you would read Dr. Stanpole saying, "It was a messy break." This is another
symbol of Finny's life. The leg break was a messy break of his life.
The next thing on the suffrage list is how Finny lost Gene as a best friend. If a reader
were to look on page 928 in the textbook, where Finny and Gene are talking at Finny's house,
they will see the friendship start to fade. When Finny tries to...