Part Iv Essay, Research Paper

Part IV

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said we have nothing to fear but fear itself . In my mind this means that fear is an emotion that is unnecessary because the only thing to be afraid of is being afraid. Oftentimes people are afraid when there was nothing to really be afraid of. Two examples of this would be paranoia and jealousy. I agree with this quote because I have been jealous before and I have anticipated something when in fact there was nothing to worry about. In the end the only thing to be afraid of was being afraid. Two works that fit this criteria are A Separate Peace and

In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the main character Gene shows that he fears his friend Finny. This fear could best be described as jealousy. The fear he had of Finny was that he thought that Finny was better than him. Therefore Gene felt it necessary to compete with Finny to beat him and to be as good he is. Several times throughout the story it is evident that Gene thinks that Finny is better than him. For example, through the use of point of view, it can be seen that Gene considers Finny to be an adversary. Using the first person point of view, Gene s competitive feelings become apparent when he says, I realized that Finny and I are even . In this case he means that his academic abilities are comparable to Finny s athletic abilities. Gene finds it necessary to work extra hard at his academics so he can be at the same level as Finny, and especially so that Finny isn t better than him. This shows that Gene is afraid that Finny is better than he is. Again Gene s fear of Finny is shown. Through the use of plot, Gene s fear of Finny is shown when he jounces the limb purposely so that he falls out of it. Because Gene is afraid that Finny is better than he is, he wants to hurt Finny and put him at a disadvantage. This also shows that Gene is afraid of Finny. Thirdly, through the use of dialogue, it is evident that Gene is paranoid of Finny. When he says to Finny that you took me out here to the beach just to make me get bad grades , it is apparent that Gene thinks that Finny is out to get him and is afraid of him. All of these things show that Gene is fearful of Phineas in the story.