A Separate Peace

            In John Knowle's A Seperate Peace, the main characters, Gene and Finny have a unique friendship that transforms throughout chapter four. According to Webter's dictionary the word "friendly" means not hostile; amicable. One could assume that a friend would contain these characteristics of a friend. However, their perfect friendship slowly transforms. As a result, of these changes Gene comes to the conclusion that him and Finny are in a constant competition in which death, jealousy and the loss of a best friend result. One could say that the most meaningful and bold theme in the book is the theme of transformation. And indeed the most obvious transformations were that of the main characters, Gene and Finny in Chapter four. .
             .
             Before the events in chapter four which, Gene Forrester was intelligent, thoughtful, competitive, and a mediocre athlete. He did not like big displays of emotion, just like most people at Devon, the prep school he attends. He is also a follower and listens to Finny because he did not want to lose Finny's respect. Finny on the other hand, is almost a polar opposite of Gene. He is honest, handsome, self-confident, extremely likable, rebellious, and an excellent athlete. As a matter of fact, he is the best athlete at Devon. Finny likes to live life at its fullest, even if that means no work and all play. He is loyal to his friends and is best friends with gene. Before the accurences, Gene was a little bit Jealous of Finny's talents. But as a result of them, that bit of jealousy soon escalated and Gene changed more and more as his envy for Finny inflated. .
             In chapter 4, Gene and Finny get back from a forbidden trip to the beach (Gene is normally a conformist so disobeying the rules is hinting a change in behavior). When Gene and Finny get back from the beach, Gene gets his first F ever on a test. Receiving an F on this test triggers a though in Gene's mind that .