A Separate Peace - 1959 Words

In John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace, it begins with the protagonist, Gene Forrester coming back to his alma mater the Devon School in New Hampshire. Wandering through the campus, Gene makes his way to a tall tree by the river; the reason for his return. From here he takes the reader back to the year 1942 during World War II when he was in high school. During the summer session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny. Finny is able to convince Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene slowly begins to envy Finny’s athletic capabilities and his innocence, and thinks that Finny envies him in return. Gene finally realizes†¦show more content†¦A more obvious way of seeing his leadership is the way that he is described as â€Å"the hub of the class† (87). Hub is a synonym for the center of something, or the heart and core. If someone is descr ibed as the hub of the class, then it means that they are the person that keeps the class together. The final way I was able to see Brinker’s leadership was towards the end of the book. Even though he had transformed to a more rebellious way, there was still a sign of his authority when he had arranged the trial in the Assembly Hall. His wanting to know the truth that was hidden from him drove him to hold the meeting in order to find it. Gene is definitely a dynamic and round character unlike Brinker who is a static and flat character. Gene changes very significantly in the story. He struggled a lot with finding himself and his identity, so much that he believes that he is a part of Phineas. Oddly enough, this sort of makes sense. One way to think about it is the guilt – Gene was so disgusted with himself for having caused Finnys accident that he cant bear to be himself, so he becomes someone else: Phineas. Another explanation is that because the struggle to define him is so difficult, he’s simply borrowed someone elses identity instead of creating one for himself. But once Finny is gone, Gene has to rely on himself to make decisions and make up his own rules. At the end of the novel as Gene is reflecting fifteen years later, he says that â€Å"[his warShow MoreRelatedEssay On A Separate Peace1916 Words   |  8 PagesA Separate Peace Honors English Essay By Devin E. Price From juvenility to maturity, A Separate Peace combines classic American Literature with a thoughtful plot-line that is developed to affect the readers’ mind and heart. The author, John Knowles of Fairmont, West Virginia, had one clear purpose for writing this book. This purpose was to show the disastrous mental and physical problems which arise as the result of war, specifically the repercussions they have on the home front. A goodRead More A Separate Peace Essay753 Words   |  4 Pages A Separate Peace Dealing with enemies has been a problem since the beginning of time. â€Å"I never killed anybody,† Gene had commented later in his life, â€Å"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 Devon; I killed my enemy there.† In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the value of dealing with enemies is shown by Gene, who was dealing with few human enemies, but his emotions created far greaterRead MoreSummary Of A Separate Peace1859 Words   |  8 PagesJoseph Post Mrs. Weber    English 9 Honors, Period 2    Oct 10, 2017 Chapter 7, A Separate Peace Summary  Ã‚  Ã‚   In chapter 7 of the novel, A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, Gene gets to know Brinker a little more, making him come out of his shell that he was in because of the absence of Phineas. He and Brinker like to joke around a lot, and one day, Gene feels like it was too serious. One day, they went down to the butt room, because they felt like a smoke, and while Brinker was fooling aroundRead MoreA Separate Peace Essay examples1290 Words   |  6 PagesBrittany Schafer September 21, 2012 Period 4 A Separate Peace Final Draft In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, it relates to a complicated friendship of two young boys Gene and Phineas. Gene is jealous of Phineas’ achievements and lets his anger destroy their relationship. The boys at Devon in the summer of 1942 have to deal with the fear World War II brings. Each time the boys feel safe and peaceful, reality sets in and reminds them of the warfare around them. The boy’s mentalRead MoreA Separate Peace, by John Knowles1079 Words   |  5 Pagesaggressive nature of the people often cause it to proceed without justification. 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It is the story of Gene Forrester, and his confused feelings of admirationRead MoreA Separate Peace: Three Symbols716 Words   |  3 PagesA Separate Peace: Three Symbols The three dichotomous symbols in A Separate Peace by John Knowles reinforce the innocence and evil of the main characters, Finny and Gene. Beside the Devon School flow two rivers on opposite sides of the school, the Naguamsett and the Devon. The Devon provides entertainment and happiness for Gene and Finny as they jump from the tree into the river and hold initiations into the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. Finny, Gene, and their friends use theRead MoreA Separate Peace By John Knowles1529 Words   |  7 Pagesand violence. Whether one is directly involved in the battlefield or waiting to see the outcome, war has the capacity to affect all people. It can harden one beyond their years and force them to grow, seeing conflicting sides of good and evil. A Separate Peace by John Knowles narrates the story of young boys growing up with World War II as the backdrop. The war impacts them dramatically and is constantly thought about as they are coming of the age since they will soon be enlisted. However, not onlyRead More A Separate Peace Essay example1149 Words   |  5 Pages A Separate Peace: by John Knowles nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;During World War II in the struggle for peace among nations comes a smaller, but still significant struggle, in a prep school boy becoming a man and waking up to reality. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In the book A Separate Peace, the author John Knowles, creates the image of two sixteen-year old boys struggling to keep what little sense of peace they know, even though there is a war going on all around them. Gene Forrester, theRead MoreA Separate Peace By John Knowles1148 Words   |  5 PagesA Separate Peace by John Knowles: Boys to Men The boys at the Devon school, in the novel A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, are World War II influenced by making them mature and grow up more quickly than they would have had there not been a war. The war makes some boys stronger and more ready for whatever life would bring, while in others it disables them to the point that they cannot handle the demands of life. This novel shows a â€Å"coming-of age† story, especially with three boys. Gene starts