Character Analysis: A Separate Peace By John Knowles

Enemies are not seen, but the inner conflicts arisen makes certain people seem like rivals. With high self-conflict, many people may strive to attain a better form, a better identity, the alter ego. This alter ego is a better version, where inner conflicts are nonexistent and innocence proves to rule the mind. In order to finally become an adult, innocence must be lost, as well as the alter ego, this allows a person to gain enough experience to achieve clear vision. The book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is about a young teenager, Gene, who is coming to age. Gene is jealous yet loves his best friend, Phineas, who seems utterly perfect. Phineas represents innocence and the friendship they share; Phineas pulls Gene into a vision of innocence,

In the beginning, Gene says to himself, “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little,” (Knowles 18). This is the very beginning of Gene thinking Finny as a threat, and slowly thinking of him as an alter ego. Gene slowly realizes that Phineas is everything he isn’t so this provokes him to start considering Phineas as an alter ego. Guilt ridden when Phineas falls from the tree, Gene tries to abandon his identity for his alter ego, “I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was. […] I decided to put on his clothes. […] This gave me such intense relief […]. I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again,” (Knowles, 53-54). Gene does this to dispel some guilt about Phineas by trying to become his alter ego. This also shows Gene slowly transitioning from his identity to his alter ego. He then shows how much he wanted to be his alter ego, Phineas, “…I lost part of myself to him [Phineas] then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas,” (Knowles, 77). This is when Gene loses himself in his alter ego; by doing this he blurs his identity.

Some of his final words in the novel are, “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there. Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone,” (Knowles, 196). This is his reflection on his life at Devon, and his realization that everyone will find an enemy and fight against it. If his innocence and alter ego were still lingering, he will not be able to come to clear vision about the world itself. His maturity and clear vision is shown through this statement because it represents a deeper understanding of inner conflict. He also comes to a realization about Phineas, “Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone. … All of them, all expect Phineas [had enemies],” (Knowles, 196). He realizes that Phineas was different because he had no enemy. He realizes why Phineas had some sort of aura which made Phineas attractive as a friend and alter ego. This aura represented innocence and a world without war, just like how Phineas was able to convince Gene there was no war too. With his clear vision he finally realizes how different Phineas was and why he was not able to survive; only people who have lost innocence are able to survive. When Gene’s alter ego dies, he obtains clear