John Knowles a Separate Peace Essay

The darkest, gloomiest times can bring out the best in some people, however they usually bring out the worst. Before injury, Finny was thought to be strong willed and having good morals and values. After injury, he is self absorbed and only values the importance of himself. He has no pity for anyone or anything; he just believes that he is worse off. Self confidence is a good thing in moderation; one does not want to have too much or too little. Too much confidence is portrayed as cockiness, and

In life, humans go through a point in their life where they struggle or have to fight for something; Whether it be fighting for money, food, shelter,a special someone or life. In John Knowles's novel, A Separate Peace, he quotes for Gene, “...my war ended before I even put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.” As you continue to read on, although it was caused by Finny...unintentionally. You’ll realize that Gene’s enemy was his insecurities, his feelings

Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that.”- Oliver Stone In the book A Separate Peace, the author John Knowles explores the darker side of human nature such as envy, jealousy, and guilt. He uses the characters Gene and Finny to demonstrate that aspect of life. The book takes place during World War II. Finny and Gene are best friends during their time at Devon School. Finny is an example of the bright side of the human nature, while Gene

In the book A Separate Peace, kindness and compassion are viewed as weaknesses. It shows how only true men go to war and handle the truth, while those who can not survive, will not survive. In it, Phineas, a student at the Devon School, is good friends with a boy named Gene

In the book A Separate Peace Gene the main character struggles with the guilt from when he made his best friend Finny fall out of a tree and broke his leg. Guilt is to make (someone) feel guilty, especially in order to induce them to do something (Google Definitions). Gene’s guilt starts later in the infirmary when he realizes that the he is the reason that Finny fell. “What happened there at the tree? That goddam tree, I’m going to cut down that tree. Who cares who can jump out of it. What happened

do that. Many characters in the book, A Separate Peace, struggle with the concept of growing up through their actions and words. Gene, the main character in the book, struggles with growing up because he knows that once he leaves his senior year, he will be drafted into the war. “He ought to have been in the class ahead, he ought to have been a senior now, if you see what I mean, so that he would have been graduated and been all set to be drafted” (Knowles 8). Gene didn't want to believe that the

order to be in it you must jump from a tree limb. I also believe that Finny and Gene are both afraid of denial, change in time passing. The way they see things and the way Gene presents himself isn’t reality. Also, Gene has trouble finding his inner peace throughout the novel.

He explains that his prep school had a completely different atmosphere after Finny’s death: “I never talked about Phineas and neither did anyone else; he was, however, present in every moment of every day since Dr. Stanpole had told me” (Knowles 202). He remained a major part of the school, the kind of person no one forgot about, even when he was not around. Even as a grown man, this event torments Gene: “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do / haunted by the ghost of you” (Huron). This quote

Gene’s conflicts within himself lead to a long struggle to keep from insanity. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, a boy, Gene, begins fighting himself, then his inner conflicts influence the people around him. Gene’s best friend, Phineas, is the symbol of innocence – all he cares about is having fun, but once Gene finds a reason to think that Phineas is out for him, it all goes down hill. Gene injures Phineas because of his paranoia and then his insanity gets the best of him. Without

the Alerce, it can live over 2,000 years. Alerce trees grow with sunlight and water, but unlike humans, trees don’t have emotions that affect how they grow up. Growing up affects everybody at different times and different ways. In A Separate Peace written by John Knowles, the main character Gene is best friends with Phineas. Their friendship goes through rough patches that affect them throughout their lives. Emotions like jealousy, guilt, and regret impact the way we grow up. To start, jealousy is