The setting of this novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is set at Devon School during the early years of World War II. This novel is gloomy and melancholy throughout due to many conflicts. In the beginning of the novel, Gene is an older version of himself reflecting back on his years of attending Devon School. As Gene is being reminded of his past he remembers his friend Phineas. Phineas was his roomate during his years at Devon. Throughout the novel, both boys encounter a conflict affiliated with Phineas breaking his leg. The main characters of this novel are Gene and Phineas. Gene is an average looking boy that is very smart in school but not much of an athlete. Gene is not as highly looked up upon as Phineas is by their peers. …show more content…
The first event being Phineas and Gene jumping out of a tree they had found off the grounds of Devon School. Phineas jumps first; Gene is standing there petrified to jump because he is not as fearless as Phineas. He eventually jumps as well to put on a front for Phineas. So he did not see him as a coward. Later on Phineas and Gene return to the tree to jump again. This time things go differently, Gene jounces the limb they are standing on causing Phineas to fall. Phineas breaks his leg due to the fall. Gene regrets what he has done and a guilty conscious consumes him. Towards the end of the novel, Phineas ends up breaking his leg for a second time causing some issues that later led to his death. He dies do to Bone Marrow entering his bloodstream and getting to his heart. A main conflict in the novel A Separate peace is man vs. self, due to the internal conflict Gene faces. Gene feels guilt due to the fact that he had been a main instigator in Phineas breaking his leg. Gene even tries to confess to Phineas what he had done,” I was thinking about you and the accident because, I cause it” (69). Phineas does not believe his good friend would do that to him. In turn, Gene feels much guilt over the years. Seeing his friend lose all he had worked so hard for brought Gene to always think of what he had
A Separate Peace is a coming of age novel in which Gene, the main character, revisits his high school and his traumatic teen years. When Gene was a teen-ager his best friend and roommate Phineas (Finny) was the star athlete of the school.
A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age novel about two boys at boarding school and their friendship during World War II. There are three significant scenes of violence that occur in the novel; however, the core of the plot is based upon one. The first and most poignant is the incident where Gene, the narrator, jiggles the tree branch while he and Phineas, his best friend, are preparing to jump, causing Phineas to fall and break his leg. The next scene of violence is when Quackenbush calls Gene a lame and Gene pushes him into the water. Lastly, Gene pushes Leper out of his chair while visiting him after he is accused of causing Phineas’ injury. All of these occurrences contribute to the overall meaning of the work.
Phineas is a daring young individual that lives for the thrill of these such actions. His intention is not to sabotage his friend, because all he wants is to have an exceptional time. Gene uses this opportunity to let his conscience get the best of him and causes his friend to fall out of the tree. Phineas ventures out on the limb first, and when Gene steps out, his knees bend and he jostles the limb, causing Finny to lose his balance and fall onto the river bank below, shattering his leg. He feels remorse and regret after he causes this to happen, as Finny is not allowed to participate in sports anymore.
This story, A Separate Peace, exhibits interesting main characters which establish the frequent struggles of personal identity in adolescence. Gene's story is set in a boarding school called Devon during World War II and "The War" which he speaks of, gives overcast and grim feelings for his classes' future like an impending doom they cannot escape. Finny is a rebellious, charming, and very athletic boy. His charisma comes from his ability to make up rules and ideas on the spot and being able to get out of any trouble, which is magnetic to the other boys at Devon. Most of the teachers admired Phineas because he was the poster boy of boys not yet affected by the war, as mentioned by Gene when he says, "But there was another reason.
Gatsby is unrealistic. He believes he can relive the past and rekindle the flame he and Daisy once had. He is lost in his dream and accepts that anything can be repeated, "Can't repeat the past…Why of course you can!" (116, Fitzgerald). For Gatsby, failure to realize this resurrection of love is utterly appalling. His whole career, his conception of himself and his life is totally shattered. Gatsby's death when it comes is almost insignificant, for with the collapse of his dream, he is spiritually dead.
Gene Forrester is a quiet, envious, introverted, and lonely young man. His insecurities are especially seen when Finny is around. There is a constant rivalry through Gene’s eyes between them. He always chooses to compete or argue with Phineas. The first example of his competitive personality is seen when Phineas asks him to jump out of the tree. Phineas says, “you were very good, once I shamed you into it. .. I am good for you that way. You have a tendency to back away from things otherwise.” and Gene states “you didn’t shame anybody into anything. I never backed away from anything in my life.” Gene would have never jumped off the tree if it were not for Finny. Gene depends on Finny as his security blanket. As time progresses the rivalry increases and
Gene is the narrator and protagonist of A Separate Peace. He suffers from all PDF the regular teenager ailments; self consciousness, jealousy, an identity crisis, and uncertainty. It is obvious from the start that Gene holds a great deal of admiration for Finny. Finny is a hero, an athlete, and a God in Genes eyes. Gene admires Finny, but naturally, Finny is also the competition. Finny gains what Gene lacks. Finny has the talents for sports, better conversation and actions and could easily be described as the perfect "Devon student". Gene May get better grades, but he goes unnoticed while Finny is able to corral the boys into any activity and talk even Gene himself into breaking the rules. Gene admits to jouncing the limb of the tree on that one summer day of 1942, and he even admits his crime to Finny. It is unknowing whether this crime was subconscious, a blind impulse or consciously malevolent. The source of our facts is Gene himself which makes it even more of a rocky situation. It could be that Gene over stricken with guilt jounced the branch, or that he has imagined these antagonist thoughts which were never really t...
Gatsby is a man of extreme capabilities but he fails to see the inevitability of his vision's failure, and in his inability to see this, he keeps trying to attain it. He does everything in his power to accomplish this vision, until his death. Daisy indirectly causes Gatsby's death, making her more than ever, unworthy of Gatsby's affections. Ironically, Gatsby lived for Daisy and up to his death, believed and had faith in her and his vision.
...m once — but I loved you too.” (171). It is in this moment of shock that Gatsby realizes that all he has dreamt up for his future was actually his past. On the other hand, Daisy manages to face the reality of life and live in the present. Gatsby’s death is a representation of his failed dreams.
Sooner or later, Gene and Phineas, who at the beginning of the novel are extremely immature, have to face reality. Signs of their maturity appear when the boys have a serious conversation about Finny’s accident. Finny realizes that Gene did shake the tree limb purposely so that he would fall. However, he knows that this action was spontaneous, and that Gene never meant to cause him life-long grief. Finny sympathetically says to his best friend, "Something just seized you. It wasn’t anything you really felt against ...
Throughout the novel, Phineas develops a theory that the war is a ruse made up by “fat old men who don’t want us crowding them out of their jobs” (Knowles 115). This is not just a joke between him and Gene; it is part of what makes up Phineas’ character. He always chooses to accept whatever is preferable rather what is truthful. It is also possible that his theory about the war is caused by the fact that his broken leg prevents him from enlisting; if he cannot participate, then he refuses to accept it as the truth. Phineas does eventually inform Gene that, “I always knew
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.
“…It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.”
Gene is a well-educated, athletic individual. He takes his school work seriously and keeps to himself, meaning he doesn’t favor standing out or being in the spotlight. He is a follower, especially when it comes to his best friend, Phineas. Throughout the book, he often compares himself to Phineas and talks about how perfect Finny is.