A Separate Peace By John Knowles

In his novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles demonstrates that, to achieve adulthood, one must lose innocence and acknowledge this loss.

“But I no longer needed this vivid false identity . . . I felt, a sense of my own real authority and worth, I had many new experiences and I was growing up “(156). Gene’s self-identity battle ends and he finds his real self. Gene’s developing maturity is also shown when he tells the truth about Leper. His growing resentment against having to mislead people helps Gene become a better person. When Brinker asks about Leper, Gene wants to lie and tell him he is fine but his resentment is stronger than him. Instead Gene comes out and tells the truth that Leper has gone crazy. By pushing Finny out of the tree, crippling him for life and watching him die; Gene kills a part of his own character, his essential purity. Throughout the whole novel Gene strives to be Finny, but by the end he forms a character of his own. Gene looks into his own heart and realizes the evil. “. . . it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart” (201). He grasps that the creation of personal problems creates wars. Gene comes to acknowledge Finny’s uniqueness and his idealism and greatly admires his view of the world. He allows Finny’s influence to change him and eliminates the self-ignorance. At Finny’s funeral Gene feels that he buries a part of himself, his innocence. “I could not escape a feeling

World War Two is going on through out the novel, and their are many different views of this war. After Finny broke his leg Gene had time to think for himself, this led him to the conclusion that he should enlist into the war “there was always something deadly lurking in anythin I wanted, anything I loved. And if it wasn’t there, as for example with Phineas, then I put it there myself.” (101) This quote is Gene putting together the pros of going to enlist. However when the next day comes and Finny arrives, he was shoked. Finny begins to tell Gene that enlisting in the war is a crazy idea, and like everything else Gene agrees. The next day Finny shares his thoughts of the war with Finny and Gene tells him “Phineas, this is all pretty amusing and everything...but you might start to believe it and then I’d have to make a reservation for you at the the Funny Farm.”(116) This is the advice Phineas was looking for. The author uses this interaction between Phineas and Gene to symbolize the conversation they both needed to have with each other about what happened at the tree the day if the

Often times, Gene would find himself under pressure placed by Finny. For example, Gene questions himself when told to jump off a tree, “What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me?”.(17) Gene’s actions and insecurities are pushed upon Finny, who is seen as the cause, and takes the brunt of the consequences. On the other hand, the author of Time magazine doesn’t place all the blame upon Finny, but rather refers to him as a catalyst who helps speed up the process in the destruction of Genes innocence. Throughout “A Separate Peace”, Phineas is seen to have a negative impact upon Gene; for example, Forrester’s thoughts are expressed on the meetings he had to attend in the super suicide society, “I hated it. But I always jumped. Otherwise I would have lost face with Phineas, and that would have been unthinkable.” (34) The constant pressure in Finny and Gene’s competitive relationship is what leads to the unfortunate incident on the tree, in the summer of

First, Finny continuously insists that “there isn’t any war” and even asks Gene, “Do you really think the United States of America is in a state of war?”; he furthers his argument by claiming that believers in the war such as Gene “are still under the influence of some medicinal drug” (Knowles 115). Finny displays innocence by denying the existence of one of the most devastating wars in world history. At the beach together, Finny expresses his happiness around Gene by telling Gene, “at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal…which is what you are,” even though “something [holds Gene}back” from saying the same about Finny (Knowles 48). Finny’s optimism forces him to acknowledge his friendship with Gene even when he cannot decide if Gene feels the same way. Finally, as soon as Finny even considers the idea of Gene pushing him off of the tree, he insists that “it was a crazy idea, [he] must have been delirious” and then he immediately apologizes to Finny, “I’m sorry about that feeling I had” (Knowles 66). The mere thought of Gene hurting Finny goes against Finny’s optimistic ideals, thus explaining his rejection of this thought and his immediate apology. Of course, Finny inevitably confronts these ideas that he first considers fallacies, and the result of

Are human beings mostly good or mostly evil? Does the potential for evil exist in

In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, it is evident that Gene purposely jounced the limb so Phineas would fall off. Before the incident occurred, Gene thinks, “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies” (53). Gene thought that he and Phineas had a rivalry going on when they decide to go to the tree. He seems to envy Finny about how good of an athlete and how good of a person he is and he thinks that Finny envies him for his academics. During the incident, Gene describes how he “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (60). Gene describes how he purposely jounced the limb to make Phineas fall. Later, when Gene visits Finny in the hospital, he feels guilty that he

The title of this story is A Separate Peace and the author is John Knowles. The story takes place in 1942 in New Hampshire at a boarding school. At Devon school their students are getting prepared to go to war. This story is very good but it is kinda sad. The author is trying to show us a sad, jealousy story.

John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, is the story of two teenage boys, Gene and Finny, and their friendship while growing into adulthood. This story takes place during World War II , at a sheltered New England all boys boarding school. The characters must find a balance in coping with the reality of the war, and trying to live out their childhood as long as possible. Knowles exemplifies how people naturally betray others due to their inner darkness, and therefore peace can ultimately never be achieved until the evil in one's own heart is accepted.

Friendships are one of the most important relationships a person makes in their lifetime. But what if the friend you trusted the most betrays you? What if that betrayal cripples you for life? Do you forgive them? Do you hold a grudge? What if you buried the truth deep inside because you knew if you faced it life could never continue as it was before? Maybe you create a fantasy: that your best friend had absolutely nothing to do with your terminal injury.Most importantly, you can’t stop wondering what compelled him to make a decision that would change your life forever. However, your friend can’t deny the truth. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the two main characters’ inner wars to illustrate how our mental state affects how we interact

Making it seem as the town and school were one, Knowles wrote, “A sizeable tree stood peacefully passed the red brick dormitories and soaked grass near the river with its substantial limb leaning over the water.” Gene and Phineas(Finny) were both attending Devon School in the summer of 1942 and were placed together as roommates. They promptly became dear friends. Gene, a pusillanimous and academically driven being, found courage in Phineas to truly be himself in all situations. Phineas, on the other hand, did not lack courage of any kind and was very involved in all sports.

A Separate Peace- War A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a clear coming-of-age novel. It explores patriotism, psychology, and the dilution of innocence. As World War II is an immediate background theme in the story, it causes the main characters to change throughout the story. The school year and the war progressed simultaneously. The characters experience tension and anxiety in the face of the approaching war.

Gene Forrester is a fit 16 year old young man. Gene is 5ft 8 and ½ in as specified by Phineas. He is mentally strong and if he puts his mind to something lit will happen. But Gene is also a very jealous individual. Gene said “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying that a little, which was perfectly normal.” (25) In that quote Gene is saying that he envies the way Finny can talk his way out of anything. This envy is part of Genes life in the novel. On to Phineas aka Finny, Finny is a very athletic 16 year old he is 5ft 8 ½ in. Finny is against rules and regulations. If he wants to do it he does it. While Finny was at home recovering he said to Gene

In A Separate Peace, a realistic fictional novel by John Knowles, World War 2 gradually encroaches upon and finally dominates life at Devon. The War is an ever present focus, if not focus then presence, that fell upon the students of Devon. That was the whole point wasn’t it? Train hard in a boarding school to prepare for war. The war impinged itself upon the school through the boys’ views, jargon, and also was brought to the school.

The author, John Knowles, like the narrator Gene, was from West Virginia. He was sent to an upper class english boarding school prior to attending Yale University. Unlike the narrator, though, who was portrayed as an academic whiz, Knowles almost flunked out of school. A separate Peace is a coming of age story about two boarding school boys who are best friends and all the adventures and hardships they had to endure during WWII. A Separate Peace was published in 1959 and based on the backdrop of World War Two.