"The tree was not only stripped by the cold season, it seemed weary from age, enfeebled, dry. I was thankful, very thankful that I had seen it, So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all- plus c'est la meme chose, plus ca change. Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence."
In this quote, Gene is revisiting the tree by the river for the first time since he left Devon. I think this quote is so significant because in his youth, Gene talked about how the tree would never change, even with time. When Gene describes the tree, it almost seems symbolic of himself. Gene doesn't think he has changed that much since the war, but time changes everything.
In this quote, Gene is revisiting the tree by the river for the first time since he left Devon. I think this quote is so significant because in his youth, Gene talked about how the tree would never change, even with time. When Gene describes the tree, it almost seems symbolic of himself. Gene doesn't think he has changed that much since the war, but time changes everything.
"It was a courageous thing to say. Exposing a sincere emotion like that at the Devon School was the next thing to suicide. I should have told him then that he was my best friend also and rounded off what he had said. I started to; I nearly did. But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper that thought, which contains the truth."
This quote by Gene struck me as odd at first, and I didn't realize what he meant by it until I had finished the book. In the story, Finny had just finished telling Gene that he was his best friend, which should have been the highest praise possible. I think this is when the reader really begins to see Gene's true colors. When he says he was "stopped by that level of feeling", it's as if he himself is beginning to realize his deep resentment and jealousy of Finny. It's really interesting the way he worded this too, throwing in the part about one's subconscious feelings. I believe this is one of the best quotes in the whole book.
This quote by Gene struck me as odd at first, and I didn't realize what he meant by it until I had finished the book. In the story, Finny had just finished telling Gene that he was his best friend, which should have been the highest praise possible. I think this is when the reader really begins to see Gene's true colors. When he says he was "stopped by that level of feeling", it's as if he himself is beginning to realize his deep resentment and jealousy of Finny. It's really interesting the way he worded this too, throwing in the part about one's subconscious feelings. I believe this is one of the best quotes in the whole book.
"I found it. I found a single sustaining thought. The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. You did hate him for breaking that school swimming record, but so what? He hated you for getting an A in every course but one last term."
This quote is a turning point in a Separate Peace that helps lead up to the climax. Gene's true colors begin to show as his jealousy seeps out from deep within him. He begins to believe that Finny has been trying to sabotage the one thing he is good at, but really, I think Finny was always just trying to have fun in life. This also shows how competitive Gene was and how he resented Finny constantly being the best.
This quote is a turning point in a Separate Peace that helps lead up to the climax. Gene's true colors begin to show as his jealousy seeps out from deep within him. He begins to believe that Finny has been trying to sabotage the one thing he is good at, but really, I think Finny was always just trying to have fun in life. This also shows how competitive Gene was and how he resented Finny constantly being the best.
"Finny, his balance gone, sung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud, It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make. With unthinking sureness I moved out on the limb and jumped into the river, every trace of my fear of this forgotten."
This quote represents the climax of the book, when Finny falls out of the tree. For me, the most interesting part is when Gene describes Finny looking at him with extreme interest before he fell. It's almost as if Finny knew within a split second all of Gene's feelings of envy jealousy and hatred. Finny seems to be looking for something too, like Gene to save him. Earlier on in the book, Gene almost fell out of the tree and Finny saved him, so it's as if he was waiting that one instant for the favor to be returned. When Gene talks about jumping out of the tree "with unthinking sureness", I feel that he seems confident and proud in his sick decision to hurt his best friend.
This quote represents the climax of the book, when Finny falls out of the tree. For me, the most interesting part is when Gene describes Finny looking at him with extreme interest before he fell. It's almost as if Finny knew within a split second all of Gene's feelings of envy jealousy and hatred. Finny seems to be looking for something too, like Gene to save him. Earlier on in the book, Gene almost fell out of the tree and Finny saved him, so it's as if he was waiting that one instant for the favor to be returned. When Gene talks about jumping out of the tree "with unthinking sureness", I feel that he seems confident and proud in his sick decision to hurt his best friend.
"I did not know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it; I wondered in the silences between jokes about Leper whether the still hidden parts of myself might contain the Sad Sack, the outcast, or the coward."
When Leper is the first person to criticize Gene's personality, he seems very shocked, almost like someone has found out his secret. This is when Gene really begins to realize what his identity is and what it has been lacking. He goes through an epiphany where he figures out that he really has no idea who he is, and that his identity is a mystery even to himself.
When Leper is the first person to criticize Gene's personality, he seems very shocked, almost like someone has found out his secret. This is when Gene really begins to realize what his identity is and what it has been lacking. He goes through an epiphany where he figures out that he really has no idea who he is, and that his identity is a mystery even to himself.