A Separate Peace

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Recommended: The separate peace essay

Most stories’ titles give readers some insight of what the story will be about. This important concept is seen in the novel, A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles. In general the setting is its own separate peace. There are also specific examples of when characters in the novel try to create their own separate peace.
The winter carnival is a good example, which shows the students at the Devon School creating their own separate peace. After being severely maimed, Finny enters his own state of mind, where there is no war occurring. He tries to put this state of mind into the other students’ minds. Finny starts a winter carnival during which the boys at Devon feel a degree of freedom in this time of war. At the carnival the boys drink cider and dance on the tables. They all feel that nothing matters anymore but their own fantasy world. Even the boys that were uptight about the war, like Brinker, loosened up and enjoyed the fantasy that Finny created. Finny successfully creates his own separate peace by creating a fantasy world.
Gene and Finny create their own peace after there is a period of guilty tension. After Gene shakes Finny out of the tree, he feels guilt start to fall upon him. He is hesitant to tell Finny the truth about his accident, and as a result his guilt jumps to a higher level. Gene tries to tell him at the hospital that he is responsible for Finny falling out of the tree, but the doctor interrupts them. This tension between them builds until Gene admits to Finny what really happened. After that, Finny forgives him, and they resume their friendship, and their separate peace.
A Separate Peace is shown through many examples in this novel.

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