A Separate Peace By John Knowles: A Literary Analysis

The fictional novel, A Separate Peace was written by John Knowles describes the life at Devon School during WWII. The novel follows two young boys, Gene and Phineas, as they face hardships and struggles throughout their life at Devon during the war. The war dominated life at Devon by creating tough decisions, causing students to act upon a life altering decision, and essentially create a war among each other.

The book, "A Separate Peace," by John Knowles can be interpreted more than one way. You can take it literally, or look into the symbolic meaning of the landmarks of the Devon school, including the two "fearful sites" Gene visited in the beginning. As stated in the book by Gene, everything in the time period revolved around the war. This includes the great symbolism used, so mainly the tree, the Devon River, and the Naguamsett River. The Devon and Naguamsett Rivers both run through the campus of Devon. They are exact opposites (pg. 40).

A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, is a seemingly simple yet heartbreaking story that gives the reader an inside look and analysis of the reality of human nature. Set permanently in the main character Gene’s point of view, the audience is first taken to the present of a reflective and now wise man (Gene) and then plunged into his past back in 1942 to relive the harsh lessons that youth brought him. Along with vivid imagery of tranquil days past, a view into the social construct of a boy’s private school, Devon, and the looming presence of World War 2 on the horizon, there is also a significant power struggle that the reader can observe almost instantly. Conquering the need to be supreme in the situations of the war, high school, social interactions, and even simple moments that

The war was not only happening in the real world, but also in the Devon School of Prep. The book A Separate Peace by John Knowles is mostly about a boy, Gene, who is receiving his education and learning about how to become a soldier to fight in the second World War. He and his best pal, Finny, are both being forced to mature and grow up before being drafted to fight, but before that even happens Gene’s jealousy gets the best of him which will threaten his friendship. Throughout the novel John Knowles uses a great deal of literary elements to help add imagery, thrill, and amusement to the story. Some of the elements include paradoxes, caricature, and theme.

The boys at the Devon school, in the novel A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, are World War II influenced by making them mature and grow up more quickly than they would have had there not been a war. The war makes some boys stronger and more ready for whatever life would bring, while in others it disables them to the point that they cannot handle the demands of life. This novel shows a “coming-of age” story, especially with three boys. Gene starts out as a naïve and sensitive person but matures into a person more knowledgeable and capable of handling the challenges of life through his crisis experiences with of course, Phineas, Leper and, Brinker.

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Knowles shows the inescapable consequences and effects World War II has on the boys attending Devon School. Some boys, including Gene Forrester and Brinker Hadley, become hostile and paranoid, while others, such as Phineas and Leper Lepellier, are mentally and physically affected. Knowles describes the microcosmic war at Devon between the students and man’s capability of hostility. This rivalry between the boys causes feelings of envy and hatred, which is naturally a part of human nature. However, too much envy and hatred within human nature inevitably causes man to become inhumane.

Being “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide”. John Knowles wrote A Separate Peace, based on the German term bildungsroman. Gene is smart, intelligent, and a really great person to be around. He has a great personality up until, he starts to emulate Finny. A Separate Peace demonstrates how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him, their friendship, and Gene ends up finding peace.

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that intimidation is suicide…” (Emerson 370). A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, takes place at Devon, a preparatory school in New Hampshire, during the 1940’s. Gene Forrester is a student at Devon and drives much of the story’s plot through his intimidation of his best friend Finny. A Separate Peace not only shows how Gene’s envy and intimidation of Finny affected him and his friendship with Finny, but it also shows Gene’s failure in achieving true peace.

John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace is about a few boys at a boarding school in New Hampshire. The story is centered around the friendship of two boys, Gene and Finny, at a boarding school in New Hampshire. Although in the beginning of their friendship Gene did not trust Finny, by the time he dies Gene feels as if a part of him has died, showing that he still felt closely bonded to him after all they had been through.

World War II took many lives away from people, physically and mentally. The struggle inside of Phineas’ mind about if he meant to hurt Gene on purpose is a type of war. He tries to reassure himself that it was only an accident, but he can’t help but think that he could have done it out of envy of Gene’s talents. Some soldiers came back home mentally disturbed and not the same as they were before the war. Gene visited a friend from school that had just gotten back from the war and he was an extremely different

John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, reveals the many dangers and hardships of adolescence. The main characters, Gene, and Finny, spend their summer together at a boarding school called Devon. The two boys, do everything together, until Gene, the main character, develops a resentful hatred toward his friend Finny. Gene becomes extremely jealous and envious of Finny, which fuels this resentment, and eventually turns deadly. Knowles presents a look at the darker side of adolescence, showing jealousy’s disastrous effects. Gene’s envious thoughts and jealous nature, create an internal enemy, that he must fight. A liberal humanistic critique reveals that Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, has a self contained meaning, expresses the

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, a recurring theme is emotions. Set during World War Two, in a boarding school in America, teenage boys face the threat of going to war. Emotions are always high and often distorted by fear and uncertainty.

In A Separate Peace written during the Cold War primarily but set primarily in 1942 during World War 11, John Knowles presents a novel that looks at the positives and negatives of war and what it takes for young men to prepare to become soldiers. The novel portrays a man by the name of Gene Forrester who goes back to Devon, his hometown, and has a flashback on his high school years recalling how everything used to be. The flashbacks of his high school years start when he enters Devon School. He reminisces on what the school previously looked like, to what it looks like currently. The school was not modernized; it was just polished up. He thought it would have been worn out and falling apart, but instead it was really well taken care of, and

A Separate Peace, which was written by John Knowles, has many themes. They are interconnected throughout the book. The most clearly portrayed theme is fear. It seems to be connected with the themes of friendship, jealousy, and war. As World War II was occurring, fear had taken over Gene's life through these various themes. When he visited Devon fifteen years after leaving the school, Gene claimed, "I had lived in fear while attending the school and I can now feel fear's echo" (Knowles 10). He felt like he had gained a separate peace after escaping from this fear.

Some friendships last forever and others do not but in the novel, A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles, displays a different kind of friendship. The reader throughout this novel was very entertained. This novel takes place at the Devon Preparatory School in the years of 1942-1943.