Comparison Seperate Peace and Billy Budd
...usy, but the problem goes into even more depth. He knew that Billy has never felt this envy and dislike of his own, and this makes him the most infuriated of all. The feelings described above can easily be paralleled with Gene in A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. First and foremost, both of the character’s fatal flaws are envy. Gene has envy due to Finny’s good looks and amazing athletic ability. However, the real reason of his jealousy that puts him over the edge is for his supreme character. Finny has never felt any competition or envy for Gene’s grades and Gene cannot comprehend this. He doesn’t know how else to take out these feelings except by hurting Finny, and instinctively pushing him off the tree. Sound familiar? This exact scenario takes place in Melville’s book. Billy has been innocent all his life and Claggart realizes and despises this. He feels as though there is no other answer other than to eliminate him—even if this means making up false stories like Billy spearheading an attempted mutiny. Another similarity between the two characters is that both become fixated upon one eve...