Hate/Love

In John Knowles novel A Separate Peace the two main characters, Gene and Finny, let out a lot of emotion throughout the story, both healthy and non-healthy emotions. At the beginning of the novel, both Gene and Finny have a sense of enjoyment when they are around each other, with each of their mental statuses thriving. They are at the peak of their relationship as the Summer term of Devon comes to a close. Gene and Finny began to feel the love of each other that long-time best friends usually establish. But one event can change a relationship forever, and that one event was the tree “accident” where Gene intentionally made Finny fall, shattering his leg on impact. All of a sudden, a certain opposite feeling arose in their friendship. The terrible feeling of hatred crept in on Gene and Finny, allowing Finny to believe (even though he didn’t want to admit it) that Gene felt hatred against him as he shook the tree branch. This emotion had never really entered the two boys’ lives, which allowed Finny to formulate an opinion that Gene disapproved of their friendship, leading him straight into a death that was very unexpected and unfortunate.