A Separate Peace (Gene)
In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester is a character wrought with inner-conflict. The first trait that contributes to Gene's inner-turmoil is that he is dreadfully lacking in self-confidence and he is uncomfortable with the person he has been all his life, especially during his years at Devon. As an adult returning there, he fears that nothing will have changed since his time there; and, perhaps most importantly, he fears that he hasn't changed either. He finds that the varnished new surface of Devon seems to make it look "like a museum...and that's exactly...what I did not want it to be." Devon reminds Gene of the person he was while he was there, and his displeasure with the preservation of the buildings reveals how much he wants to forget that person. Gene would rather have these buildings decay and fall to the ground than stand as a monument to
Finally, Gene is resentful towards Finny throughout the book for all the ways that Finny is superior to him. Gene is very distrustful of the motives of others. Gene is a character wrought with inner-conflict. the old Gene who he now hates and dreads so much. Gene is resentful towards Finny throughout the book for all the ways that Finny is superior to him. ) Gene is so anguished when he understands this, immediately resenting Finny even more for this additional aspect of his superiority over him, that he jounces the limb on which they are standing, and causes Finny to fall to the ground. Gene convinces himself that Finny is trying to sabotage his grades. This is a terrible insight for Gene as he grasps that he is "not of the same quality as [Finny]. He is dreadfully lacking in self-confidence and uncomfortable with the person he has been all his life. Gene's sense of insecurity and self-hatred, his suspicions of those around him, and his resentment of his best friend-all of these aspects of Gene's personality contribute to the struggles that Gene experiences within himself. At the climax of the book, however, when Gene and Finny are climbing the tree together for a "double jump," Gene has the realization that Finny has never been jealous of him and that "there never was and never could have been any rivalry" between them. In addition to his insecurity, Gene is very distrustful of the motives of others.
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