Free College Essays - Devon as a Microcosm in Knowles' A Separate Peace

The fictional novel, A Separate Peace was written by John Knowles describes the life at Devon School during WWII. The novel follows two young boys, Gene and Phineas, as they face hardships and struggles throughout their life at Devon during the war. The war dominated life at Devon by creating tough decisions, causing students to act upon a life altering decision, and essentially create a war among each other.

In a place flooded with war and violence, a school is separated from reality; living within the walls are the boys of the school, shielded from the ugly truths that lie beyond. During this time of adolescence, the boys are forced to grow and mature while the walls that protect them begin to fall. One boy, Gene, lives within this wall and matures into a young man during this time through many events and conflicts he faces. Through these events occurring, he is now able to withstand the violence of the world, war and trauma. This coming of age is demonstrated when Gene causes Finny to fall out of the tree, discovers the reality of war, and Finny dies.

The war was not only happening in the real world, but also in the Devon School of Prep. The book A Separate Peace by John Knowles is mostly about a boy, Gene, who is receiving his education and learning about how to become a soldier to fight in the second World War. He and his best pal, Finny, are both being forced to mature and grow up before being drafted to fight, but before that even happens Gene’s jealousy gets the best of him which will threaten his friendship. Throughout the novel John Knowles uses a great deal of literary elements to help add imagery, thrill, and amusement to the story. Some of the elements include paradoxes, caricature, and theme.

The final set of symbols, peace and war, served as a backdrop for Gene’s adolescence and maturity. The Summer Session was a time of peace, it was fun and relaxed. There were no rules for Gene and Finny to follow. “We reminded them of what peace was like, of lives which were not bound up with destruction," (Knowles ). Unlike the summer session, which was full of peace, the winter session was filled of war. The war came to Devon when Leper enlisted. It hit Gene even closer when he found out that Finny had tried to enlist into the war but no one would accept him. "I also wrote the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marine, I wrote to General de Gualle personally, I also wrote Chiang Kai-shek, and I was about ready to write somebody in Russia,” (Knowles 190). Gene’s

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.

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Knowles shows the inescapable consequences and effects World War II has on the boys attending Devon School. Some boys, including Gene Forrester and Brinker Hadley, become hostile and paranoid, while others, such as Phineas and Leper Lepellier, are mentally and physically affected. Knowles describes the microcosmic war at Devon between the students and man’s capability of hostility. This rivalry between the boys causes feelings of envy and hatred, which is naturally a part of human nature. However, too much envy and hatred within human nature inevitably causes man to become inhumane.

“Peace had deserted Devon.” The war had finally made it’s way to the school, and destroying peace and replacing it with fear and uncertainty. Gene feels devoid of peace after Finny is injured, just as Devon does when the war closes in. He believes that he is the sole reason that his best friend is dead, and this idea tears and rips his insides apart.

In A Separate Peace, There are connections to the Vietnam War that happened during the making of this novel. This book has symbolism in it that connects to how America was during the Vietnam War. The Symbolism in A Separate Peace, represents what happened and what it was like during the Vietnam War. It demonstrates this representation in the school, outside and park areas, and the characters in the book specifically Finny.

Throughout John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene’s internal struggle is reflected in the war taking place. In the beginning of the story, Finny tells Gene that he was reading the paper and saw that “[the United States] bombed Central Europe...”(25). At this point in the story, it is 1942, which is the midst of World War II. This reflects Gene’s attitude toward Finny. As the war starts to escalate and the United States enters, Gene starts to loathe Finny for reasons that are entirely from Gene’s head. When Finny returns to Devon for the winter session, he has convinced himself, and soon convinces Gene, that “there isn’t any war”(115). Around this time, Gene pushes away his hateful thoughts towards Finny and convinces himself that Finny and him

“Everything has to evolve or it perishes” (125). In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the setting takes place at an all boy’s boarding school in New England called Devon, during World War II. A Separate Peace is a disturbing and life-shattering parable of the dark side of a teenager. Gene Forester is an intellectual who mainly succeeds in academics and rule-abiding. Phineas is an excellent athlete, a dare-devil, a character who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, and is admired by all. During the summer of 1942, both boys stay at the Devon school, and that summer changed everything for Gene and Finny, forever. A Separate Peace is set against the backdrop of World War II. While the war is going on, the young men of Devon School face their own psychological battles. Gene and Leper in particular create battles inside their own minds; they create division and enemies, and they deal with their difficulties in very different ways.

In chapter eight of John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, Gene and Finny are catching up on lost time. Finny has become more dependent on Gene since he has become crippled. He was physically and mentally dependent on him. He needed Gene to get around without hurting himself, and he wanted to live sports through him. Finny is shown to be in denial of the war. Everytime the war is brought up Finny dismisses it and says “‘there isn't any war”’ (Knowles 115). He is convinced that the war is all a hoax.

The time is 1942 and World War Two is taking place in the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles. However, there is also a war taking place within the minds of two friends at Devon Boarding School for boys. John Knowles uses the war function has a metaphor to illustrate the war of paranoia and jealousy going on inside genes head.

The further you read into the book A Separate peace the hostility and jealousy increases and grows stronger between Finny and Gene. Gene and Finny have an inner hate and feeling to be better than the other. In one instant the hostility and jealous feeling inside of Gene takes over. Gene shakes the tree limb that Finny was on to make Finny fall off a tree and break his leg. In my opinion,

The war represents the final step in loss of innocence the boys face while at Devon. World War II represents the imminent trials of adulthood and the triumph of evil over good in the novel. Even the safe walls of Devon couldn’t keep away the impending struggles the boys are going to face in the real world, the war being the nearest struggle to come. The only thing that lets Gene forget the war is Finny, who represents innocence and youth, as well as his time spent at Devon during the summer.

This story begins when Gene Forrester comes back to the Devon School fifteen years after his graduation to relive a tragic story. He walks up to a tree and the story then begins in the summer of 1942. When Gene arrives at the school he meets a very intriguing person by the name of Phineas also known as Finny, they end up starting the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session, where they meet