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What are the effects of adversity on Gene in A Separate Peace?

Adversity is defined as one or more unfortunate events, and in A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene faces a few of them. Since the novel is a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age story, Gene must face some pretty serious issues in order to learn and grow. Three adverse incidents that help Gene to grow the most are when he breaks his best friend's leg, when he learns about Leper's mental breakdown, and when he has to convince Phineas of the truth.


At the beginning of the story, Gene becomes very jealous and competitive towards Phineas. Because Gene is immature and competitive, he convinces himself that Phineas is immature and competitive as well. After a huge argument about their friendship in chapter 4, the two boys go to jump out of the tree into the river. This is when Gene purposefully jounces the limb, which throws Phineas to the ground and breaks his leg. This tragic event forces Gene to face the ugliness and guilt inside of himself. Taking responsibility for one's actions is a very grown-up thing to do, and Gene does so by admitting his guilt about the incident to Phineas in chapter 5. Unfortunately, Phineas is not mature enough to accept that his best friend did something so vile to him, so the boys remain in denial about it for a while. 


The next intense event that forces Gene to face adversity is when Leper goes AWOL from the army. Leper sends a note for Gene to meet him at his home to discuss the matter. When Gene gets to Leper's home in chapter 10, he meets a very different boy than the one who left a few weeks earlier for the war. Leper's story about his mental breakdown at boot camp is overwhelmingly weird and Gene is forced to see the army from Leper's fragile perspective. It isn't pretty and it is a little scary for Gene to experience. Gene isn't able to discuss Leper's experience again, but it does teach Gene that not everyone is able to face life as easily as others. About Leper, Gene comes to realize the following:



"I had to be right in never talking about what you could not change, and I had to make any people agree that I was right" (197).



Gene learns that there are some things he can't control, so there's no reason to talk about them.


Finally, Gene must face Phineas about the truth of his mistake once and for all. If he doesn't find closure, he might not overcome the guilt. When Phineas slips and breaks his leg again in chapter 11, it provides the two friends with an opportunity to discuss the first break again. Phineas finally accepts what Gene did to break his leg the first time by saying the following:



"It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn't know what you were doing" (191).



Gene feels relieved to know that Phineas recognizes what truly happened and he forgives him as well. Of this experience, Gene discovers the following:



"I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there" (204).



Gene learns that a person has other enemies to fight during a lifetime and many of them exist inside himself. For Gene, he was able to slay most of his personal enemies during high school. Therefore, the effects of adversity on Gene help him to take responsibility for his thoughts and actions, not to dwell or talk about things he can't control, and teach him that the real enemy he has to fight is the one inside himself.

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