A Separate Peace Chapter 2 Summary

The reader is introduced to the narrator, Gene. He introduces a few other key characters, such as his best friend Phineas. He begins by telling the story as an adult visiting his old school, the Devon, fifteen years after he has graduated. Gene lets the audience get to know Phineas better by retelling a memory of how the two boys jumped into the river from a tree. Phineas is well known by all staff, with the reputation of being able to get out of anything. After coming back to school wet and muddy, Phineas gets him and Gene out of trouble by being charismatic and charming.

• Chapter 2: The reader learns that Phineas is able to do practically whatever he decides to do; he gets out of trouble for wearing his uniform incorrectly, makes a terse adult laugh, and

Gene uses the near genius level of intellect he has to show the reader how his childhood was like growing up to keep the reader invested in reading the book. Every one of the thirteen chapters give a significant importance to the story of his life. The tone of the book is somewhat acquiescent and nostalgic. Gene uses the book to confront his past fears and revisit his guilt.

 Delivery –The appearance of A Separate Peace is faded and has an old feel. The cover picture is of a brick building, which is supposed to be the boarding school that Gene attends in his youth. The font of the title is simplistic but reminds me of cursive as it has loops. The cover picture in addition to the color of the cover gives the book a faded, dated feel as if it was from the post WWI era.

Use of Outside Sources: The book uses sparing outside sources, citing World War II. The use of World War II gives the book a more realistic view, as opposed to if the book put in a fictional war that the world was fighting. The use of outside sources appeals to the ethos of the book, giving it more credibility, as one could easily Google or search up the outside sources mentioned in the