friendship in a separate peace by John Knowles Finding out who someone really is can be a very difficult thing to do. Knowing who some one is inside and out takes time and dedication. I learned that there are a few key factors when getting to know who some one really is. Character determination of a friend can be based on three things, honesty, trust, conflicts, and how they are resolved . The book a separate peace by John Knowles deals with all of these issues in the case of friendship. You can use these three factors to see how good of a friend a person can be, and determine there true character.
All through the fifteen years I’ve lived this life there has always been one redundant term told over and over. Honesty is key, and if your talking about a friendship that ‘s true. If you don’t have honesty you don’t have anything to base your relationship on. Being honest to a good friend should be subconscious, and if it’s not then I wouldn’t consider them a good friend. You shouldn’t have to struggle with a friend to be honest. In a Separate peace Finny is always honest and speaks his mind. Gene on the other hand comes across honest, but you can never really tell. He should not have told Finny that he jostled the limb on purpose if he wasn’t even sure himself. In the movie Dead Poet Society each and every group member was honest to each other, and that’s why they were the best of friends. Also, they learned to think honestly by themselves from their teacher through ways of poetry. Much like how Finny learned honesty through sportsmanship. Without knowing if Gene is honest or not, Finny and the members of the Dead Poet Society would have made much better friends. These friends where honest, and therefore could trust each other. Trust each other to resolve conflicts and become stronger friends.
Conflicts are another way to determine someones true character. When a conflict occurs you can see what they do and how they react to the situation. Like when someone is cornered, and in danger of losing their life. Those animal instincts are a great way to see who some one really is. In a separate peace Gene deals with his conflicts by not talking about them and pushing his feeling down till they are gone.
