Enemies of the Heart in a Separate Peace Dealing with enemies has been a problem since the dawn of time. In A Separate Peace by John Knowels, the importance of managing one's feelings and one's enemies is demonstrated by Gene Forester, a student from Devon during World War II who deals with few human enemies, but his emotions create a very good enemy. bigger than any other. human enemy. “I never killed anyone,” Gene had commented later as an adult, “and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I even put on a uniform; I was on active service all my time at Devon; I killed my enemy there. » In Devon, Gene had a best friend, Finny, they were roommates and did many activities together. Finny was never the culprit, but usually the catalyst for most of Gene's feelings, good and bad. Gene was jealous of Finny's self-confidence, his open-mindedness, his modesty, his superb athletic abilities, his leadership skills, his ability to easily handle stress, his carefree attitude, his people skills and, of course, her beauty. At the beginning of the story, Finny demonstrated his open-mindedness when asked his height, he replied 5 feet 8½ inches, while Gene answered 5 feet 9 inches. Finny pointed out that they were the same height and that Gene shouldn't be ashamed of his true height. Later that day, Finney suggests skipping dinner to go swimming in the river. They are asked where they were when they returned. Finny quickly replied that they were swimming in the river, which is forbidden, and they got away with it. Gene said that the rules were bent a lot during the summer session, but it was actually Finny's people skills that kept them out of trouble. Finny was very bold, as Gene had often wished, on one occasion Finny wore bright pink. shirt "symbolizing the first American bombing of Europe. Gene called him a "fairy" but really envied him. Finny later wore the school tie as a belt and when questioned claimed that it represented "Devon in the War" Gene was happily waiting for a scolding for Finny, but again he had no trouble Another day the two were walking and came across a plaque by the pool claiming that. A. Hopkins Parker held the record for the fastest swim across the pool, Finny took one look at it and thought he could beat it, so without any training he dove into the pool, Gene l. 'timed it and he beat it, just like that.