Most people would say that those with weaknesses get killed by the ones who lack them. In A Separate Peace, that is not the case. The author, John Knowles, creates a repetitive theme of vulnerability and lack of perseverance between the two main characters, Phineas and Gene. As best friends, the both express their strengths in different ways. During their summer spent at Devon Academy, a boarding school in New England, World War II (WWII) contributed in their daily lives. As the story goes on, Knowles effectively shows how different the boys are positively and negatively. Based on the two characters from the novel, Knowles intentionally tries to introduce the world's vulnerable side by showing more of Gene's weaknesses than Phineas'. First, Gene possesses many weaknesses. Knowles tries to interpret Gene's qualities such as anger, rivalry, hatred, jealousy, and human nature. In chapter two, where Finny was talking to Mr. Patch-Withers, the substitute headmaster for the summer session at Devon Academy, he had been talking himself out of trouble. Gene shows one of his first qualities that show weakness in personality with "I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying your best friend a little  (Knowles 18). Gene has many weaknesses, and it may just start off as envying a best friend, but then it turns into hatred. This hatred and rivalry grows to a point of murder. Gene purposefully caused Finny to fall out of a tree, which ultimately lead to his death. Finny unintentionally pushes Gene to become jealous of Finny. Jealousy and envy are two of Gene's major weaknesses. Next, Gene also characterizes much strength over Finny. Some of these strengths that trump Finny are intelligence, academics, aggressiveness, and human nature. Finny is a good person at heart. He is also a very innocent person. If Finny went to war, it's