Naguamsett And Devon Rivers In A Separate Peace

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Throughout the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the Naguamsett and Devon rivers to symbolise the differences between reality and the artificial environment of Devon.

At this point in the novel, with the war raging in Europe, the Senior class is busy preparing for the brutal fighting which would take place in most of their lives in the upcoming years. Gene characterized the Naguamsett as "ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed" (76). With the war being in the back of Gene and his classmates’ minds, the Naguamsett symbolises the burning reality that someday soon, many of the boys will be thrown into the ugly battleground of war. This war especially, being infamous for the many inhumane acts and brutal fighting conditions. Also, with the Naguamsett being so putrid and polluted, the likeliness for illness is there, and this ties the Naguamsett more to the war because of how WWII had a lot of deaths due to illness from chemicals and other reasons.

Also on page 76, Gene goes on to say, “(The Naguamsett) was nothing like the fresh-water Devon… where we’d had so much fun…” (76). This symbolizes the differences between the disgusting Naguamsett war scene and the pure Devon campus. While the Naguamsett is characterized to be murky and unsanitary, the Devon is pure, and as Gene says, “fun”. With this …show more content…

This symbolises how the innocence of Gene is dying inside, and the war is looming over him, and indirectly coming to the devon campus through Quackenbush’s anger. One main symbol is also how he was thrown into the Naguamsett, not the Devon. With the salty water covering him, he is extra uncomfortable, and also he uses the Devon to remove the salt and other remains from himself after the incident. This shows how Devon is used to heal the thoughts of war, and used as a safe space from the brutal reality they

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