A Sperate Peace

In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, how adversity effects on human spirit is shown by jealousy, guilt, and surroundings in a negative way due to the incidences that occur in this novel. Adversity is something that everyone faces at one point in their life, it is the difficulties that make us move on and learn from our mistakes.
In this novel adversity has a strong effect on an individual because it affects the viewpoint of life. The way one preserves things of life is all based on their surroundings or what they believe in that results in their perspective. In this case, Gene was affected by Finny because Gene always looked up to Finny and the way he handled situations, including his athletic side. "I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas”. Gene’s thinking was as if he was the reason for Finny’ death and injury because Phineas was a really good friend that Gene looked up to. Also it states “I lost part of myself to him” which shows the connection that Gene felt between them and their strong friendship.
Jealousy is a type of an emotion that builds up inside of you, and it showers your mind with negative thought that are seen with ones actions. "Was he trying to impress me or something? Not tell anybody? When he had broken a school record without day of practice? I knew he was serious about it, so I didn't tell anybody. Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it” (Page 44). Gene is not happy about Finny's achievement, as it states he was “forced to hide it”. Also, true friend wouldn't hide achievements that they are proud of because it’s something an individual would value. It is also ironic because a best friend is proud and supportive of their own friends and their accomplishments, instead of questioning who they did it for. In this novel, jealousy is...