Actions And Characters In A Separate Peace By John Knowles

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.

The Winter is the opposite of summer, during the winter not only does the winter change but the town's appearance. The houses that once looked artificial were exposed and looked abandoned. “Winter comes down savagely over a little town on the prairie...The roofs, that looked so far away across the green treetops...they are so much more uglier then when their angles were softened by vines and

In order to write a novel that continually grabs the reader’s attention, the author must establish the setting of the story. In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, he consistently uses the setting in the novel to reinforce his, message. The story’s World War II-era setting creates an ethos of uneasiness and uncertainty for the young men preparing for war. This is seen with Gene visiting the school after the war, Phineas’ difficulty to adjust to the setting after his injury, and the numerous places that the characters go in which they escape the reality of the war.

Friendship is one of the most important relationships that people form in all of their lives. Children build bonds when they are young and use those skills to continue fulfilling friendships for the rest of their lives. Throughout A Separate Peace, John Knowles displays the good things about close friendships but also the hardships that often occur. Gene and Finny are two boys that attend Devon school. Which is a school that closely reflects the one that Knowles attended while he was growing up. Both Gene and Finny emotionally grow despite their opposite personalities, and they go through several situations that force them to consider the value of their friendship. Through their time at the school, Knowles reveals Gene’s and Finny’s

Who does not remember their school days? The good times, the bad times and all the memories. John Knowles wrote an inspiring novel that shows all that can happen when life is at its worst. In the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene grows up and sees how hard life can be. The novel is a bildungsroman because it is a book about a person coming of age or growing up. A Separate Peace is a bildungsroman because when Gene returns to his school as an adult he remembers all the good times he had, the heartbreak he experienced, and he sees the school differently, .

The winter is surely when the novella’s tone goes downhill. As the nights grow longer, and the days grow colder, the mood of this book darkens . “ The sky is an empty hopeless gray and gives the impression that this is its eternal shade. Winter’s occupation seems to have conquered, overrun and destroyed everything…” This quote shows the change in mood that winter has brought.

John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, utilises symbolism to further explore weather as a motif. Gene, the narrator of the novel states, “I think we reminded them of what peace was like, we boys of sixteen”(24). During the summer session the boys are “careless and wild”(24). Being an outgoing and relentless character, Finny symbolizes and is “the essence of this careless peace”(24). The summer session symbolizes the youthful innocence of the Devon boys.

In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, a main theme is the importance of friendship. The main characters in this novel, Gene and Finny are best friends and roommates who build a strong relationship throughout the novel. Their relationship is built through good times and struggle, and grows throughout the book. A Separate Peace shows the reader how jealousy and competition can weaken a relationship and how the struggles in a relationship can lead to a strengthened relationship and an inseparable bond.

In John Knowles’s novel A Separate Peace, a bond between the two characters, Finny and Gene, is created. The novel describes Finny as popular when around his classmates at Devon. As Finny goes to a private school with Gene, this causes them to become close friends. On the other hand, As Finny’s opinions and personality differ numerously from the narrator’s, this causes their relationship to become complicated.

In the novel, The Separate Peace, by John Knowles, a new character named Brinker Hadley was introduced. Brinker does not seem like most of the people Gene knows, “His face was all straight lines-eyebrows, mouth, nose, everything-and he carried his six feet of height straight as well. He looked but happened not to be athletic, being too busy with politics, arrangements, and offices” (Knowles 87). I was a little surprised that he was not athletic because most of the people Gene know are. Brinker and Gene seem to get along well. I think they get along well because they almost have similar interest and both are not really athletic. Leper is one of Gene’s old friends who he kind of catches up with. He is kind of in his own world and doing his own thing.

The novel begins with old Gene remembering what happened at Devon fifteen years ago. Gene and Finny go to Devon School during WWII. Even though they are friends , they are very different. Finny is the top well-rounded athlete who can get talk his way out of anything, while Gene is the studious, shy kid. Finny comes off as a jerk and thinks he has to be good at everything. I do not quite understand Finny and Gene’s friendship. Finny creates a secret society and in order to be in it you must jump from a tree limb. I also believe that Finny and Gene are both afraid of denial, change in time passing. The way they see things and the way Gene presents himself isn’t reality. Also, Gene has trouble finding his inner peace throughout the novel.

Gene goes to visit Finny in the medical room and they have a little conversation and Finny forgives him but when Finny was telling Gene what he was doing which was sending letters to different army places including Russian army Gene response to this as saying “Phinneas, you wouldn’t be any good in the war, even if nothing happened to your leg”. so, there are a lot of reasons which lead Gene to respond in this way.

In A Separate Peace, many wars are being fought. Although the students at Devon are shielded from most of the negative effects of WWII, their isolated world is eventually affected by the war. For example. Leper leaves to fight in the war, maids were no longer available, and the boys had to do manual labor to free the train tracks in town. Another war being fought is the internal war Gene experiences regarding Finny. Gene is jealous of Finny because of his many friends, natural athletic talent, and his ability to talk himself out of any situation. Gene is so jealous of Finny that he begins to think that Finny is trying to sabotage him. For example, when Finny drags Gene to the beach, Gene thinks that Finny is trying to sabotage his chances

Separating Peace Character By Character A Separate Peace is a novel based around a group of high school boys in a private college preparatory school named Devon. Most of Devon’s students want, have, or search for peace throughout their time at school. Upon return from summer break, each character searches for and discovers their peace. The words separate and peace represent a variety of ideas in Knowles’ novel, especially for Gene, Phineas, and Leper.

The motif of transformation is evident in the changing of the seasons. Gene said that there were only summer and winter at Devon. This shows that it is either lighthearted, gratifying summers or tedious, depressing winters. The seasons represent Gene and Finny’s feelings. For both of the boys, the summertime represents freedom. “I found myself describing to Mr. Prud’homme how Phineas and I had slept on the beach, and… he missed the point: that we had flatly broken a basic rule. No one cared, no one exercised any real discipline over us; we were on our own” (Knowles 55). They can entertain themselves as much as they want. As soon as Finny falls from the tree, the summer session ends. This is where the transformation begins. Winter represents stress and guilt for Gene. Internal conflict consumed Gene: should he be guilty about causing Gene’s fall, or should he convince himself that he had nothing to do with the fall. “‘then I…’ I only had to add, ‘pushed him out of the tree’… But I could feel my throat closing on them; I could never say them, never” (Knowles 90). In Finny’s mind, winter was a symbol of loss. The only thing that Finny ever cared about was sports—something he could never play again. This is why he wants to coach Gene. “So to Phineas I said, ‘I’m too busy for sports,’ … I thought the issue was settled until at the end he said, ‘Listen pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’” (Knowles 85). Both of the boys deal with dreary feelings in the wintertime at Devon. These transformations affect the boys’ personalities