Looking Inward to Learn
Posted by Jake Cohen on 3/18/2010
(Jake plays Gene in A Separate Peace)
I first met the young men of A Separate Peace in 9th grade English. A decade later, I find myself back at the Devon School playing Gene in our SYA production. Conveniently mirroring Gene’s journey in the novel, this return to Devon has led me through the complex landscape of masculinity.
Only now in my 20s have I found myself examining the conditioning I received as a man-in-training. It has taken me this long to do so partially because introspection is the first sin of maleness: something about how looking inwards is at odds with keeping an eye out for danger at the entrance to the cave.
As I have reacquainted myself with Finny (played in our production by Damir Konjicija), I am newly awed by his enlightened brand of masculinity. He embraces athletics not for a chance to shame losers, but rather for the communal thrill of team camaraderie. He speaks his heart, readily acknowledging that Gene is his “best pal.” He includes outsiders, empowers stragglers, and celebrates failures. His dismissal of ego, competition, and the urge to destroy afford him a health and happiness unknown to many young men encouraged to lead, win and annihilate. His graceful acknowledgment of (most of) his feelings defuses the ticking time bomb within many adolescent males.
How lucky Gene is to have met Finny. How lucky we all are. The threat is real; if Gene, a young man of immense privilege and comfort, can harbor hostility, then anybody can. As violence abounds at home and abroad, Finny’s lesson has grown only more relevant. It may be too late, but we had better learn it anyway.