Facing Reality in A Separate Peace
In the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Gene creates his own false reality while trying to protect himself from what he had done to Finny because he feared the truth. For example, while Gene is on trial by his peers, Knowles writes, "'of course Finny was in the tree,' I said. But couldn't make the confusion last, 'and I was down at the bottom, or climbing the rungs I think...'" (Knowles 171). Gene is expressing his own rejection of the truth that reality presents because he fears the retribution of his actions in the situation. Gene exemplifies the teenage nature of distorting reality through the creation of a fake situation in order to avoid having to deal with consequences of mistakes. Gene is the personification of teenage nature to fear negative repercussion and thereby creates a false reality.