Free College Essays - A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

"Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb." This is a quotation from the novel A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles. My focus in the following will be on Man's Inhumanity to Man. There is a strong relation of this to the novel for which I read.

My first point which I will talk about is about Finny's tragic fall and how Gene was the cause of it. My support from the story is Finny's desire to jump from the tree. Gene said that he was coming to join him but Finny reminded him about studying. Gene's thoughts on the matter were, "He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us, I couldn't stand this." My second support is Gene's actions leading to the accident. He took a step toward the trunk, put his knees and jounced the limb. Thus, Finny lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. My third support goes back to the scene of the accident after Gene watches Finny fall. And he thinks to himself, "It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make." More less, this is a sign of pride within Gene as he watches the good athlete, Finny fall out of the tree.

My second point is on the scene where Brinker brings Finny and Gene to the mock trial

to let everyone know the real truth about the cause of the accident. In other words, it was a

way of blasting away Gene and shoving his reputation as a respected individual into the

ground. My support from the story is when Brinker and three acquaintances come into Gene

and Finny's dorm and pull them out. After they entered the Assembly Room, Brinker

remarks, "You see how Finny limps." This phrase was the beginning of his plan to set the

truth loose, or primarily break the friendship link between Finny and Gene. Brinker chose

the Assembly Room as the setting for this trial since there is nothing humorous about the

place. It is a place which would be terrible for Gene's sake to talk about the cause of

the accident.