William Golding's Lord of the Flies and John Knowles' A Separate Peace

Think of two twins who are not physically alike but have reflecting and opposite personalities. These two people are shadows of one another and resemble the duality of good vs. evil. These types of counterpart characters are known as doppelgangers. A doppelganger is an alter ego of one's charisma. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the characters Ralph/Jack and Gene/Finny represent doppelgangers, explaining how they complement each other and maintain supremacy.

One significant pair of characters who separate is Ralph and Jack. Their dual natures cause differences among themselves due to various reasons. From a physical standpoint, Jack is described as “tall, thin, and bony: and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.”(Golding) With an immoral self image, Jack is looked upon to be unattractive. Meanwhile, Ralph is enticing and has an energetic physique. “He is fair and well built, might grow into a boxer but never into a devil, for he is sunny and decent, sensible, considerate.” (Golding) Both identities can now be distinctly seen as opposites that repel one another. On the contrary, Gene and Finny also parallel each other’s egos and motivations. “His combined good looks, fine sense of balance and tremendous energy create the sense of an academic.” (Slethaug 259-270) Finny, who is a multi-sport athlete, has an almighty body and is seen throughout encouraging himself/others to be creative. On the other hand, Gene is the clever and resentful one; his jealousy causes him to revert to evil. “The reader sees Gene as the typically malevolent betraying pursuer of the double tradition.” (Slethaug 259-270) In comparison, Gene and Jack ar...

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...and enmity increases and this reverts into evil. “Gene has discovered that his private evil, which caused him to hurt Phineas, is the same evil--only magnified--that results in war.” (Ellis 313-317) Gene pushes Finny off the tree so he could take Finny’s role in society. Overall, the conflict of supremacy remains as one with no boundaries where brotherly friends switch into hatred and power to rule turns regular boys into savages.

In the end, these doubles are influential characters who manipulate other people and places. Doppelgangers can be found simply by looking at differing personalities and their path to dominance. Their impact on society can be viewed as right vs. wrong. Now through research and supportive evidence doppelgangers can be found across many literary pieces and they can allow readers to examine common principles of reflecting characters.