A Separate Peace A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis
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Innocence Always Lost Life is full of innocence shown in many different forms. Young children do not know the harsh realities of the world while older adults cling desperately onto the virtue they once had. However, almost always purity is lost, with a cost. Authors express the loss of innocence to characterize their protagonists or even antagonists. The authors of A Separate Peace, A Streetcar Named Desire and “Everyday Use” all use a theme of losing virtue to leads to an important characterization in each of the works. The relationships of Gene and Finny, Blanche and Stanley, and Maggie and Dee all show conflicting motivations and a major incident that offers a turning point for the characters when their innocence is lost. The competitive…show more content… This change in his character leads him to resent Finny and work harder at school. During his time at Devon Gene’s most obvious motivation is to beat Finny and in a way take his place as a leader. Gene wanting to be looked up to is clear when Finny wears a Devon School tie as a belt and Gene says, “This time he wasn’t going to get away with it. I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that” (Knowles 27). Gene wants Finny to mess up and lose his almost invincible life of never truly getting in trouble. Finny is never caught, while Gene has spent his whole life trying to remain perfect to protect his future. The idea that Finny is Gene’s equal bothers Gene because he believes Finny floats along while he works harder than anyone else to get ahead. When young children have friendships they never worry about competition because of their innocence. Instead of keeping his innocence and having a true friendship with Finny, Gene feels bitter towards him. These thoughts Gene has only strengthen his motivation to hurt Finny and replace him. However, Finny never wants to hurt Gene he is only looking for a comrade and somebody to be a part of his adventures. Finny