Analysis Of John Knowles A Separate Peace

John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace is set at a boys’ boarding school during World War II. It is regarding two friends, Gene and Phineas. The adjustments made for the movie adaptation of John Knowles’ A Separate Peace does not concentrate much on the tree and it does not get into the deeper issues, which makes the movie less captivating than the novel. The novel is more explicit, which gives a better insight of the character’s thoughts and the movie excludes a number of events which occur in the novel. The events which occur in the movie of this novel differ significantly from the events which occur in the novel. A significant difference perceived is, Gene’s encounter with Leper. In the novel, Leper escapes from the army and returns home

This detail in the novel makes it easier for the reader to understand how Gene feels. In contrast, the movie is in third-person point of view, which does not clearly demonstrate how the character feels or what they think. One can only assume what the character is thinking or feeling by their facial expressions. In the movie, when Gene falls from the tree and Phineas saves his life, Gene does not show much expression (reaction). Gene: (mumbles) “thanks” Phineas: “Anytime pal”. This scene in the movie does not clearly portray what Gene is thinking, however from his facial expression one can see Gene is surprised and fairly grateful Phineas saved his life. Another major adjustment in the novel begins with Gene revisiting Devon fifteen years later, which leads to the flashback. Gene wishes to visit two locations specifically and when he does it reminds him of his time at Devon, “There were a couple of places now which I wanted to see. Both were fearful sites, and that was why I wanted to see them” (Knowles, 10). This quote indicates that these two locations Gene wants to visit play a major role in his past. In the movie, however, the beginning is different; it begins with a flash-forward to an event which happens afterwards in the movie and a title notifies that it is February 1943. Brinker and a couple of the other boys take Gene and Phineas for a trial in the middle of the night. “......” This scene clarifies that the movie starts off differently than the novel, which also informs the viewer that the movie will not be in first person point of view. The novel lays out a greater understanding of the characters’ reaction towards situations since it is written in first person point of