preview

Finny's Symbolism In A Separate Peace

Decent Essays

The marble staircase represents Gene's hatred towards Finny, and when he returns to Devon and encounters the stairs again, he is faced with his past hatred of his old friend. Moreover, the hardness of the marble contributed to breaking Finny's leg once more, which represents how much he hated Finny. He never realized the impact of his hatred and that it was what would directly led to Finny's death.
The marble staircase represent the cold hard facts of Gene's betrayal towards his friend, and as Finny tries to hide from this reality, he falls from his naiveté and meets his end. The stairs, which represent Gene's hatred, takes away Finny's false peace that he shrouds himself with, and forces him into the evils of the world, showing no one can …show more content…

It is where the boys spend their summer carefree. However, following Finny's fall from the tree, the calmness will soon flow into the murky waters of Naguamsett. As Gene stops at the footbridge to gaze upstream at Devon River he realizes that there is a dawning bitter war the boys at Devon will soon face just like the clear waters of Devon will soon enter the murky and unknown waters of Naguamsett .
While Gene was a student at Devon he feared adulthood but when he returns the fears he had as a child are overcome. The tree has lost some of its pAfter Gene jounces the limb and causes cause Finny to fall onto the bank, he feels a sense of relief from his anger and jealousy, which leads him to jump from the tree with a sense of confidence for the first time. In this moment, Gene has jumped himself from his childhood innocence and lead everyone to maturity. d as a child he realized that he has grown. In this moment he is able to put down the old fears that has haunted …show more content…

Leper, who seemed to be the most untouched by the war, is the first to enlist, showing that the war has reached into the deepest part of Devon and dragged the most unlikely candidate out into war, bringing the fear of adulthood right to the boys, showing how potent the war is. Although Leper thinks he is ready to enlist, deep inside he is scared and truly is not ready for war or adulthood. This quote represent all the boys in Devon who are not yet ready to enter adulthood, but are pushed into it because of

Get Access