A Separate Peace

             Jealous, jealousy-resentful or bitter in rivalry; envious. Gene is jealous about the fact that sports comes naturally to Finny, but in order to succeed in academics Gene needs to work arduously. In fact, Finny shows such expertise that he doesn't need any preparation to reign victorious in any specific sport, or to surpass old records, as seen in chapter two.
             "I stopped and looked at him up and down. He didn't look directly back at me. "You're too good to be true," I said after a while.
             He glanced at me, and them said, "Thanks a lot" in a somewhat expressionless voice.
             Was he trying to impress me or something? Not tell anybody? When he had broken a school record without a day of practice?" (36)
             Gene, on the other hand, can't do anything impressive without studying frequently. Gene studies almost like he is overzealous, and trying to become the class valedictorian. If he doesn't study for hours on one test he is going to fail. He can't just go to the test not prepared and ace it like Finny can with sports. This made Gene jealous of Finny. Gene notices Finny's ability at sports and can see why he is jealous.
             "He told long. Wild stories about his childhood; as I pumped panting up steep hills he glided along beside me, joking steadily. He analyzed my character, and he insisted on knowing what I disliked most about him ("You're too conventional," I said). He rode backward with no hands, he rode on his own handlebars, he jumped off and back on his moving bike as he had seen trick horseback riders do in the movies. (38)
             Once jealousy took root in Gene, it distorted a friendship so severely, jealousy shattered the link between Gene and Finny. Gene recognizes that Finny, on the charts, places ahead of Gene constantly so he plans a plot to get "even".
             Revenge sets in to Gene, he thinks that he needs to be better than Finny. Gene finds a way to alter the scales a bit, or...

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A Separate Peace. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 01:09, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/87646.html