Dead Poets Society And A Separate Peace

The Devon represented innocence, and all of the fun times Gene and Finny had together with the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Sessions. When Finny fell because Gene jounced the limb, it was as if the Devon turned in to the Naguamsett. “We had never used the lower river, the Naguamsett, during the summer. It was ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed,” (Knowles 76). The Naguamsett was unfamiliar territory to Gene, unlike the Devon. These rivers figuratively represented a change from adolescence to adulthood.

The archetype of the Hero’s Journey holds a prevalent pattern in the works of “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. These works all follow the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth which are separated in three stages; separation, initiation, and return. The main characters have different characterizations; however, they all follow the basic structure of the Hero’s journey archetype. There are many similarities and differences between the stages that are shown through many context clues and literary devices in each work. The Hero’s Journey archetype expressed in these literary works follow a similar and direct narrative pattern.

During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.

At some point in life, one will learn of the major consequences of not thinking situations through and in turn, the importance of having friends to help overcome difficulties caused by this. Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, and the 1989 film, Dead Poets Society, make similar points and develop comparable themes throughout the stories. Both make a point about the major consequences that come with risky or not well thought out actions. Secondly, each have the idea of the importance of finding new ways to deal with difficulties. Lastly, the concept of friendship is key throughout the pieces. In short, these similar points that are made throughout the two works connect to larger idea of friendships being an important part of getting

Strengths and weaknesses In a Separate Peace by John Knowles Gene is always on constant battle between himself. Gene is filled with jealousy while Finny is an irreproachable boy at Devon. Throughout the book, you can see Finny is a stronger character than Gene because he is always in a constant battle between himself.

"Your surroundings may change but your essence and your personality pretty much stay the same" (Dewan). The setting of the novel A Separate Peace is at an all boys school located in New Hampshire. The characters and plot are finely woven into the fabric of this institution. However, would events in this novel turn out differently if the story was set in a public high school, with a diverse environment? The characters and plot of A Separate Peace are not solely driven by their surroundings because the boys would still break the rules, Gene would have internal conflicts, and the war would affect the students.

The movement and change in Gene’s character allows for a weak relationship with Finny, that causes separation and unhealthy behavior. In A Separate Peace, Gene is a foil to Finny and he appears to be a shallow, companion and follower of Finny, but upon further analysis, he is a deep, weak character that shows his many pitfalls through erratic actions, resulting that enslaves him in guilt.

After Finny tells Gene that Gene will play sports instead of him, Gene experiences a “soaring sense of freedom” that reveals, to him, that “this must have been [his] purpose from the first”(86). Gene is happy to do sports for Finny, since Phineas’s athleticism is now gone. This shows both boys think they are the same, as they are clearly happy to be in the other’s control, describing it as freedom. While the reader has seen Gene’s codependence towards Finny, the reader has not seen vice versa. Even though Finny realizes that Gene is the one that caused his fall from the tree, Gene can “hardly believe it”, when Finny indirectly shows that “he needed [him]”(108). This reveals how Finny also is codependent of Gene, conveying how Gene is astonished to see that Finny still wants his companionship even after the wrongs Gene has committed. As a result, this evinces how Gene realizes his mistakes, showing the dynamic nature of

Gene believed that Finny was trying to sabotage his academic studies and achievements. Finny formed the Super Suicide Society and would force Gene to go to the meetings and not study. Finny sabotaging Gene was just one of Genes thoughts and it wasn't really happening. In Dead Poets Society, Neil felt a great pressure from his father to succeed in school. He was forced to drop several extracurricular activities because his father forced him to.

The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles and the movie Dead Poet’s Society both present an abundant array of similarities. There are examples of alike characters, events, themes, and symbols; some specific examples of resemblances are Phineas and Neil, Gene and Todd, and Mr. Hadley (Brinker’s father) and Mr. Perry (Neil’s father).

A Separate Peace and Dead Poets Society are based in different times and they have different story lines. Even though they are extremely different, they also have a lot of similarities too. The book and the movie weren't based off of each other, but they have a lot in common. There are a bunch of things to compare and contrast between the movie and the book.

First, Gene is struggling with the consequences of his actions even though it did not harm him him physically, it destroyed him mentally. The big two conflicts in this half of the book is again, person vs. person and person vs. self, but in different ways than originally. The person vs. person conflict is between Gene and Phineas again, except this time it is fighting for trust and their friendship. After Gene is forced to partake in the trial to discuss Phineas’s injury, Phineas can’t bear the truth any longer. When Gene tries to confront Finny after Leper’s testimony, Finny says “I just don’t care. Never mind.” (Pg. 177). Later, after storming out of the trial and falling down the marble stairs had re-broken his leg, Gene tries to talk to Phineas again, only to hear “You want to break something else in me! Is that why you’re here!” (Pg. 184). Gene loses and regains Finny’s trust multiple times throughout this novel, but always seem to come to terms in their friendship. The person vs. self conflict is again, Gene vs. himself, except this time he is not struggling from jealousy of Phineas, he is dealing with the consequences of the actions the jealousy made him take. Gene misses their old friendship and just wants to be right with Phineas, despite how he[Gene] ruined his athletic and military

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.

Many poets and directors believe in the concept of living life to the fullest. In this quote, by Sir Henry David Thoreau, he shows that we should live life to its fullest and make sure we make our mark while we still can, so people remember us. In the Movie," Dead Poets Society," a group of students from the Welton Prep School are moved by the teachings of their English teacher, Professor Keating. He teaches the boys to be their own boss, leaders and not followers. This quote relates to the movie because this quote tells what Keating wants to teach his kids. Many events take place during the movie that asks whether or not Professor Keating's teaching are appropriate, it is also questionable whether or not he

Are parents abusing the power they have over their children? There are parents who involve themselves in their child’s life so much the child has no say in anything. Being limited or neglected from pursuing one’s goal can lead to depression. Something similar to this takes place in the film Dead Poets Society. In this film a character named Neil is prohibited from pursuing his goals of becoming an actor by his father. This results in at least one argument found in the film. In fact, three arguments can be identified in Dead Poets Society.