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Good and evil in the history of literature
Morality in literature
Good and evil in the history of literature
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In A Separate Peace, the topic of good versus evil is one of the most predominate topics found throughout the book. Along with identity, rivalry, and many other topics, this topic is displayed by the author through the characters and through the use of plot and setting. In a world full of good and bad people, the bad always tries to conquer the good. Sometimes when good and bad coexist within one person, there is an internal battle between the two, trying to conquer the other. These external conflicts along with internal conflicts can be seen throughout the book in many different situations. In A Separate Peace, the contrast between good versus evil displays conflict between one’s self and in the relationships with the external world.
The threat
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The effect of war on the innocence of childhood could be one that affects a child for the rest of their life, particularly when that child is forced to be involved in the brutal, traumatizing events that can occur. “Traumatic events can be placed on a continuum based on the degree to which a child is exposed directly to extremely frightening and prolonged stressors that carry long-term impact on personal wellbeing or access to social supports” (Costello, Masten, & Pine). In A Separate Peace, the main character, Gene Forrester, and his classmates are all preparing for entering …show more content…
In this use of a double, Gene represents the group of those who may go through life with a pessimistic, vicious attitude towards life. Gene wants to be a leader and the authority figure in his life. Throughout the book, he understood that his friend Phineas was the one controlling him and keeping him from becoming the person that he wanted to become. Unfortunately for Phineas, he was not aware of these thoughts zooming around in Gene’s head. Gene wanted to dominate and be on top so much that he did not care what it took to achieve that. He ended up injuring Phineas and ultimately causing his death in the end. Most people would be extremely sad if their best friend or someone they were really close to died. In Gene’s case though, “[Gene] did not cry then or ever about Finny. [He] did not cry even when [he] stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston” (Knowles 194). Gene saw everything as a competition and ended up making an enemy out of his own best friend. These characteristics in Gene are used by the author to display the corrupted side of reality and of the populace of evil in the world. Conversely, Phineas is appointed by the author to represent the group of people who go through life with a positive approach of life. Phineas refused to see the evil in the world and in his own
The characters of Gene and Finny are as opposite as apples and oranges. Finny is
This psychological memoir is written from the eyes of Ishmael Beah and it describes his life through the war and through his recovery. War is one of the most horrific things that could ever happen to anyone. Unwilling young boy soldiers, innocent mothers and children are all affected. In most instances, the media or government does not show the horrific parts of war, instead they focus on the good things that happen to make the people happy and not cause political issues. In his book A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah dispels the romanticism around war through the loss of childhood innocence, the long road of emotional recovery and the mental and physical effects of war.
...and wounds soldiers but murdering their spirits. War hurts families and ruins lives. Both stories showed how boys became in terrible situations dealing with war.
Many individuals look at soldiers for hope and therefore, add load to them. Those that cannot rationally overcome these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley precisely depicts the critical impact wars have on people in his novel by showing how after-war characters are not what they were at the beginning.
Wells, Karen C.. "Children and youth at war." Childhood in a global perspective. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2009. 152. Print.
War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
John Knowles writes a compelling realistic fiction about the lives of two teenage boys throughout the start of World War II in his novel A Separate Peace. Peter Yates the director of the movie plays the story out in a well organized theatrical manner. There are similarities and differences in these two works of art. However; there are also similarities.
Gene is right in the center of these changes. He is very close to all of the other three boys, and thus all of the changes affect him very much. Due to all the tension occurring in this novel because of the war and events going on at the school, there is a lot of denial of truth happening. Three of the four boys mentioned earlier denied the truth at some point in the story. This denying of truth sometimes ends with the person who committed the fault in a bad condition at the end of the book, and sometimes in good condition.
Brenda Shoshanna once stated, “All conflict we experience in the world, is a conflict within our own selves.” This quote recognizes how much conflict influences our everyday lives and personality. The wise words were especially true for Gene, the main character in A separate peace, who let his battles with other characters and the society of his time become his own internal battles. In John Knowles’s novel, A separate peace, all the types of conflict are shown through the main character Gene.
Bracken, Patrick and Celia Petty (editors). Rethinking the Trauma of War. New York, NY: Save the Children Fund, Free Association Books, Ltd, 1998.
...it may help us arrive at an understanding of the war situation through the eyes of what were those of an innocent child. It is almost unique in the sense that this was perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to directly give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century: the rise of the child-killer. While the book does give a glimpse of the war situation, the story should be taken with a grain of salt.
Singer, P.W. “Children at War.” Military History 24.6 (2007): 1-5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War in hopes of trying to find who he is. Being named a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Timothy Findley shows the effects wars have on individuals in his novel The Wars. Findley suggests that war can change a persons behaviour in many different ways, however it is seen to be negatively more often then not. Robert Ross, the main character of The Wars, shows symptoms of what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in today’s society.
Machel, Graca & Sebastian Salgado. The Impact of War on Children. London: C. Hurst, 2001.
Innocence is often lost in childhood. Maturity is gained through experience which takes time. This idea is featured in The Wars by Timothy Findley, and in William Faulkner’s “Two Soldiers.” In the “Two Soldiers” the young boy is unnamed. Faulkner wants all readers to relate to the character. Timothy Findley names his protagonist but also reveals how his innocence is eroded during war. Both authors focus on maturity through adversity as innocence is lost in wartime environments, which changes the heroes’ lives forever.