The Importance Of Peace In John KnowlesA Separate Peace

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 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.

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 views of Gene and Finny on the war are almost the complete opposite. Finny displays that he does not believe that there is a war going on but he thinks that there is a real war between generations. Gene shows that he believes the war is real and calls upon its believers to sacrifice in chapter 8. ““Do you really think america is at war?” “Do i think…” my voice trailed off.. “Don’t be a sap,” he gazed with cool self-possession at me,”There isn't any war.”” (115) Finny’s views of the war contrast sharply with Genes. Instead of sacrifice, Finny’s vision is a refusal to give his heart to a cause trumpeted by a lying generation. Gene believes that Finny doesn't know what he is taking about but doesn't want to say anything and that the war is real and everyone should enlist. The views of both of the men are different and so are their attitudes.

In the novel a Separate Peace we find our two main characters, Finny and Gene at a boarding school in New England in the thick of World War 1. This book tells the story of transitioning into a age of adolescence full of darkness and jealousy.As they are transitioning into adolescence they are confronted with lots of new relationships, yet the way this relationships develop along the plot of the book is the real reason this book is interesting. These boys are different in so many ways (rules, spontaneity, sports, academics, beliefs, jealousy, backgrounds), and yet they are drawn together in a special bond.

A Separate Peace, a book written in 1959 by John Knowles recollects the young and damaging experiences of many boys during WWII at the Devon School.The reader goes through the tragic story of Finny, the internal conflict of Gene, and the unexpected changes in some of the boy. The war has taken a toll on the students of Devon one way or another but what if a student completely blocked out all of that out. Where his reality is that the war is the ultimate scam against the younger generation, a scam that’s been going on since the Roaring Twenties. Finny, rebellious self, always questions the status-quo but does always ignoring and dismissing the truth always a good choice? It may work for some things that you want to repress but ultimately, you

John Knowles’ captivating novel A Separate Peace explores the eventful life of two adolescent students in New Hampshire during a time of complication and chaos in World War II. Finny, an astonishingly athletic and adventurous boy, gets himself and his best friend Gene Forrester into a bit of mischief during their experiences in school, where he tends to do the opposite of what others expect him to do, making him a truly unique character. Despite living in a time of World War II, the evils of the world do not exist in Finny’s world because of his inherent innocence. In his time at school, the actions and optimistic opinions of Finny make him the epitome of innocence, but when the events of his life force him to confront the hatred and evil

In John Knowles’s novel A Separate Peace, the unhealthy, deceitful, relationships of the boys at Devon caused them to collectively destroy one another, ranging from Leper’s enlistment into the military and mental demise, to Finny’s broken leg and eventual death. The boys were pressured to maintain a sort of friendship that desired honesty and companionship, but reaped dishonesty and competition. The schoolboys’ dependence upon each other for thrills and life quickly went from innocent to controlling as the stress from home, their life, and the war weighed in upon them, resulting in the boys’ relationships being ruled by fear and false expectations.

“It is better to have an enemy who honestly says they hate you, than a friend who is petting you down secretly”-Unknown. While this is true, is a person who puts you down secretly even considered a friend? Not according to Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus’s definition of friend, “a supporter or an ally” and Dictionary.com’s definition of friendship, “a state of mutual trust and support between allies”. In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Gene, the narrator puts his “friend” Finny down so is their relationship really classified as friendship? No, Gene and Finny are not friends because Gene purposely made Finny fall out of the tree, their relationship is considered rivalry, and Gene doesn’t support Finny.

The coming-of-age novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is based on the author’s high school years at his prestigious school, the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. The novel is set in the fictional Devon School during World War II. It explores the prep school idyll of two adolescent boys, Gene and Phineas. The novel's main character, Gene Forrester, who is also the narrator of the story, was based on the young Knowles himself, while Finny’s character was modeled after another student from Exeter, David Hackett. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles, uses Phineas’ masculinity to determine the relationship between him and Gene, and to learn the limitations of his masculinity.

A Separate Peace, a novel written by John Knowles, represents a microcosm of World War 2 through the schoolboys’ experiences. The fear and violence of the war have the overwhelming effect on the boys, especially on Finny and Gene. The microcosm presents collective issues, such as betrayal and misunderstanding. However, these issues are a part of the social framework of man’s inhumanity towards man, which can damage a relationship between friends forever.

Taking place amid the chaos of WWII, the novel “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles reveals of another war taking place in Devon High School. Gene, the narrator, grows a hatred for his closest friend, Phineas, using jealousy as his motive. Clouded by anger, Gene decides to jounce the limb on a tree in which him and Phineas were standing on, causing Phineas to fall and shatter not only his leg, but his dreams of becoming an olympic swimmer as well. Gene perceives the competition between him and Phineas as a war, however, Phineas refuses to accept that a competition exists, let alone a war. So throughout the book, Gene and Phineas fight battles within themselves to find their inner peace, a peace separate from the war going on itself. Through Gene’s and Phineas’s personal struggles, John Knowles illustrates how a person may only find their inner peace when they detach from their contentious emotions and acquire acceptance of their fate.

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.

“As the war looms, the carefree joy of summer turns into the strict discipline of autumn.” They spend the day picking apples at local farms because the farmers are gone to war. As Gene puts it, this shows how the war “commenced its invasion of the school.(p. 93)” The boys also have to shovel out railroad tracks from under snow so trains can get by. After the main line is cleared, a train full of servicemen goes by. This shows that the war is still out there, even if it is not on top of the boys yet. After the day shoveling snow, Brinker says he is going to enlist, causing Gene to think about enlisting. Even though neither of them actually end up enlisting, their thoughts of doing so pull the war ever close to life at Devon. However, Finny’s idea that the war is a fake shows that the war is still distant to them, even if it is getting

Some friendships last forever and others do not but in the novel, A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles, displays a different kind of friendship. The reader throughout this novel was very entertained. This novel takes place at the Devon Preparatory School in the years of 1942-1943.