Emotions In John Knowles A Separate Peace

With each scenario, it is shown that most of the time Gene’s enemies are only in his head- not many are in a battle to reign supreme as he is. The war put together with these power struggles allows for such a well done piece, for the reader learns that even in times where others are in battle one does not have to be anchored against someone. Phineas and Gene’s relationship is also instrumental in delivering this message because the reader can witness Phineas, with his free and peaceful ways and realize that Gene does not have to be on the defense and seek power all of the time. Phineas is a unique contrast to Gene that helps Knowles prove his point. Just as in the book, life shows us that this urge to beat an “enemy” is unnecessary and can often have consequences like the ones Gene experienced. It is crucial to recognize the reigning powers in life and not let them take over and cause one to find evil in everyone- Knowles displays this perfectly with Gene and his

Gene pushes Finny out of the tree due to jealousy. This shows just how much jealousy Gene has. He is willing to hurt someone because of one tiny thing after another. All Finny has done so far is be himself. Gene overreacts and seriously injures his “best

After the realization of the person he truly is Gene confronts with his problems, faces reality, and deals with the future. He learns a lot about life and relationships when he finds about his true self. He learns that he must truly express his feelings and communicate instead of keeping all the feelings inside as he had always done with Phineas. Also he learns to listen to himself not others around him if he wants a true advice. After a while, he faced reality and acknowledged the fact that he was not as great was Phineas but they were two different individuals and they were unique in different ways. Gene accepted the guilt for Phineas’ difficulties after his accident and decided he must he must help him as a punishment and act of repentance for what his deed. He does this by giving part of himself to Phineas as we see with the case of the sports

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is generally surrounded around war. War can build some people up and then bury others six feet under the ground. One theme of this book is that war can take a toll on people in every type of way possible.

Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him in many ways. Gene begins to lose his identity and start conforming to Finny. According to Knowles, “If I was head of the class and won that prize then we would be even…” (27). This quote explains how Gene follows finny by trying to be head of the class with him. Gene gets jealous of Finny being head of the class, so he tells him if he was head they would be even. When Finny introduce jumping off the tree to Gene at first he didn’t want to do it, but he wanted to be like Finny so he did it. In Knowles words, “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? (5).

War is a destructive force whose nature is to destroy all things and change lives forever. It is a whirlpool that sucks everything in and is fueled by hatred and violence. Whether one is directly involved in the battlefield or waiting to see the outcome, war has the capacity to affect all people. It can harden one beyond their years and force them to grow, seeing conflicting sides of good and evil. A Separate Peace by John Knowles narrates the story of young boys growing up with World War II as the backdrop. The war impacts them dramatically and is constantly thought about as they are coming of the age since they will soon be enlisted. However, not only are they living during an era of war but are also struggling with the war inside of themselves as they search for the truth within. Knowles depicts the ability of war to affect teenage boys in Devon, an English preparatory school, and transform them from carefree boys to troubled young men in search of their own separate peace.

“I wanted to see Phineas, and only Phineas. With him there was no conflict except between athletes… This was the only conflict he had ever believed in.” (page 152) When Gene returns from Leper’s house, all he wants to do is see Finny. Gene says that Finny never believed in any conflict, which alludes to when Gene admitted to making him fall out of the tree, and Finny refusing to believe him. Gene wants to forget about what happened, as the event is fresh in his mind after coming back from Leper’s. He still subconsciously trusts Finny to not bring up the subject of what happened at the tree.

In A Separate Peace, John Knowles carries the theme of the inevitable loss of innocence throughout the entire novel. Several characters in the novel sustain both positive and negative changes, resulting from the change of the peaceful summer sessions at Devon to the reality of World War II. While some characters embrace their development through their loss of innocence, others are at war with themselves trying to preserve that innocence.

Gene feels insignificant when with Phineas, and rages much like a child who wants to be the center of attention. Without thought, and just based on his anger, Gene jounces a limb on the tree that the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session jumps off at every meaning. This makes Phineas tumble to the ground and shatters his leg, while Gene effortlessly jumps off the limb with no fear. Knowles shows here that because Gene destroyed his enemy, he restored the child’s self-image of being the center of the world. But, he claims after the accident that it was not his fault, again like a kid, and blames it on his knees. This fall of the tree mirrors the Fall of Man in the bible. In this analogy, Eden or Phineas are pushed by Sin or Gene in order to crush the innocence of mankind. After this fall, Gene has more experience but habitually retreats back to conformity. Although, Gene does go admit his guilt and apologize to Finny on page 66. “I’m sorry about that feeling I had...” shows a true milestone in the maturity of Gene and his growth as a person. But this soon leads to an angry realization causing Finny an indirect injury. In the friends’ last conversation, Gene and Finny freely discuss the fall and Gene uses this experience as insight into the world, in order to fight his internal enemies of doubt and a lack of

The author of times essay indicates that Gene would often fear and doubt his own abilities in comparison to Phineas. For example, Gene worries, “Then a second realization broke as clearly and bleakly as dawn at the beach. Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the super suicide society, that explained his insistence that I share all his diversions”. (53)One statement jokingly said by Finny is what led Gene to jump to conclusions in his own mind, with no confirmation as to what Finny’s intent really was. Therefore, when Phineas was on the tree, Gene, “-took a step towards him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb… he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud.” (60) Finny’s shattered leg places excessive guilt upon Gene, who impulsively made the mistake of shaking the tree; and because of this, Genes innocence starts to crumble from the realization of what he had

However, it is Gene who begins to have doubts about Finny, thinking that he is trying to make him jealous of his athletic talents and so he battles a confliction of love and hate, his own envy of Finny growing, decaying his sense of self. According to Gene, Finny’s friendship was “all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity.” (Knowles 53) As he mulls over these thoughts Gene realizes that Finny doesn’t return his resentment at all; in fact, Finny doesn’t seem to have any envy whatsoever, which, ironically, only causes Gene to feel even more bitter because Finny seems to be better in yet another aspect: his personality and morals. Soon after this slight shift in Gene’s perception of Finny, they climb a tree together, a familiar occasion by then. However, as Finny jumps, Gene shakes the tree branch, causing him to fall off and break his leg. Gene is shocked at himself, instantly regretting his action; as he visits his friend in the infirmary, Finny’s reluctance to accuse Gene and his sincere behavior cause Gene to come to a heart-breaking realization: Finny had always been simply his good friend and he never had any malicious thoughts or feelings towards Gene. “...I thought we were competitors! It was so ludicrous I wanted to cry.” (66) Gene is left trying to tell Finny what really happened,

Historical Influence on A Separate Peace There are many things that can change how an author may write, one of the more important things is the way that history and society can change an author’s opinions and thus influence their writing. History can be influential into two ways, either by past experiences and the expectations that arise out of them or contemporary forces in the author’s life as they write their book. The writing of A Separate Peace was influenced by both contemporary and past historical forces in John Knowles’ life; these include his own personal experiences, the return of the draft in World War II, and the stigma that arose for all soldiers with PTSD in World War II due to ignorance and a lack of sympathy.

In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene and Finny, best friends, have two more years of innocence before they have to fight in the brutal war enveloping the world. In their free time, they do foolish things, like jumping off trees and playing dangerous games. But in the back of their minds, they know that in a couple years, they are off to fight, like the seniors they know. Consequently, the prestigious Devon School will start training the two young boys for their near future. The war going on impacts the book in many ways such as marking the end of Gene and Finny’s childhood, discussing the lives’ of the seniors, and developing the boys’ carefree summer.

While there was a war going on in his setting, there was also one going on in his mind, against Phineas and against the jealousy he feels toward him. Not being able to control this jealousy, causes him to push Finny out of the tree. The truth was always swept under the carpet, and replaced with obscure suggestions about what might have happened. But Gene and Finny always seemed to know the truth, it wasn't until Brinker brings out the court, that’s when all the truth comes to realization. At the end Gene learns that Phineas was never the true enemy,“Because 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) It was always his own inner demons he was fighting, the greatest enemy he fought during his time at Devon was

Finny's strong and solid character is again evident the night of the tree jumping in which he fell and broke his leg. Prior to the occurrence, Gene explodes when Finny automatically assumes Gene will be present at the Suicide Society tree "leap"(46). Finny's thinking that studies can just be abandoned at anytime infuriates Gene. Once Gene