Monday, August 17, 2009
A Separate Peace
I absolutely loved this book! I got about half way done with Huck Finn and was completely bored, so I figured I would give this one a try. I couldn't stop reading this one! I especially liked the story in it because it reminded me so much of me and my best friend; about all the jealousy and things we do so the other does bad at something. This is part of life though and makes for a good friendship, however, you can't let it control you or get the better of you. What I really think the author is trying to get across is that you cant go through life jealous. Gene was jealous and mad at Finny so he pushed him out of the tree. Gene thought Finny was jealous of him so Finny kept having things to do so Gene couldn't do as well in school. This jealousy really took control of their lives, and when Finny was out for the count, Gene felt like he had to stay around and help Finny out as much as he could. He spent most of his free time tending to Finny and actually got weighted down with it. He could no longer feel free or do what he wanted for fun. The thought of Finny hurt because of him would always flash through his head. Knowles is trying to say that you should live a fulfilling life and not be weighted down by your past. Keep your head up and keep moving forward for the better. A great book! Now, tell me what you think Knowles meant....
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I completely agree with everything Garret mentioned. I have this cousin, who was my best friend. She graduated already, but we used to hang out all the time. She got straight A's, played the piano, was a teacher's ideal student, my whole family loves her, she got a scholarship to go to a private school in grades 9 through 12, was part of DAR, my grandma favored her over me, she excelled in practically everything, she got to travel places out of this country, lived in a huge, beautiful house, and my family was always telling me how I should be more like her. She got to do things I would never get to do. It got to the point where I got so jealous of her and even hated her. Her and I aren't the best of friends anymore, but I realized that being jealous of her wasn't going to solve anything, so I became myself, and went out and did my own things to try to get my family to like,too.
ReplyDeleteI think Knowles is trying to that being jealous of your best friend won't solve anything. It can destroy a friendship. The friendship becomes full of guilt and anger. I agree that he is trying to say to live a fullfilling life and not let your past weigh you down.
I agree with what you both have said, and would like to add that I believe another point to it is not to be blinded by your emotions. Emotions can lead you to do things you will regret for a long time, even your life in this case. Use your head and think through the situation before you act out of pure emotion and instinct. I don't believe Gene would have ever thought of pushing his best friend off a tree if he had a clear mind about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that has been said. Garrett, I like how you said at the end, keep your head up and keep moving forward. I think that's a great thing to always remind yourself. You can't let what others are doing or saying affect you, because that will always be going on no matter where we go. As Dylan said, if we always acted out of pure emotion and instinct, we would be regretting many things in our life. Everything that we get in trouble for is usually because of bad decisions and unrational thinking. A little jealousy, in a way, can make us work harder and push ourselves to the limit, but if it gets the best of us is when we really need to be careful and evaluate where our thoughts are I think.
ReplyDeleteGarrett, I disagree completely. I don't think that the book is simply about letting yourself cut your losses. Finny, wasn't just baggage, he was Gene's best friend. He didn't just make a mistake, he deliberately ruined Finny's future. It's true that you can't live in the past, however, your largely dictates your future. You have to live with the decisions you make, and some of the really big ones never heal. That is why I think that the message Knowles is trying to send is that you have to look at what really matters in your life. If you let petty things like envy get the best of you, you will not be happy. Just think, if Gene had talked to Finny about the how he felt, how it would have changed all their lives.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Colby on that one. You have to look at it from a realist's point of view. This wasn't an optimistic book for me, in the least. So you have to look at the bad that happened throughout the book with an open mind. I can see where Garrett's coming from though.
ReplyDeleteI can see your point but I agree with Haley and Colby. Gene was jealous of Finny and he acted completely inappropriate by making Finny fall out of the tree. I know that Gene just reacted on an impulse and didn't take the time to think about what could happen or thought about what exactly he was doing at all, but f Gene just "cut that loose" then he would live an ignorant life. He should feel bad about what he did to his "best friend". He changed someone's life completely and has to live with that. Gene did learn from this all thought, at Finny's expense, you can't let jealousy, enmity or anything get in the way of your life. If you let it or react to it you could live with it the rest of your life... and so could someone else.
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