A Separate Peace Essay
A Separate Peace Essay
The title A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, means that Gene has made a peace with himself apart from the war. Hanging over Devon like Damocle's sword, World War II is a depressing background to the story, ever present but rarely acknowledged. There are many conflicts within the novel that are affected by the war but independent of it—Gene's absorption of identity into Finny's, their friendship and later Gene's wariness of Finny, the loss of boyhood and innocence, health and then disability, and so on. Leper breaks down in his war, and Brinker attempts a stance of bluster and bravado about the fight. Gene wins his battle against Finny, simply because Finny, as a superior character, never fought. He also overcomes his inner demons, the ones that whispered of betrayal and treachery to Finny.
Gene and Finny seem to complement each other very well, the introverted intellectual and the charismatic athlete. However, there are darker undertones to their relationship. Gene muses to himself, “Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief when nausea passes away; I felt better. We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.” He believes that Finny is out to stop him from achievement, to hinder him in success. He is, therefore, an enemy. Finny's fall, accidentally or not, is the consequence of these dark feelings. The fall was highly symbolic; Adam and Eve ate from the tree, and were cast from the Garden of Eden, clothed in knowledge of good and evil. The time of games and light-hearted fun summer is over, though the boys may not realize it. The war becomes more real, especially as Leper joined the army. Overtly they are further separated from military thoughts, but subconsciously they know the truth of the fighting.
Numerous transformations take place in A Separate Peace. Most are concerned with the transition from boy to man, and one self to another. Finny tells Gene, “'Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,' and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” In a particular moment, Gene dons Finny's clothes after his friend's accident. Leper has horrific visions of men transforming into women, chairs and furniture changing into arms and legs, in the army.
Through Gene, Knowles describes Devon thoroughly, mapping out the boundaries of a world separate from the war. Aside from brief forays into the outside world, the most important events take place in the school, which is a microcosm of a world. Academics and athletics are the first concerns of the students—Gene and Finny personify the icons of these two. After Finny's fall, he becomes wholly dependent on Gene and they become, ironically enough, closer than ever. Later, when Brinker forces the truth of the accident on Finny, he initially refuses to accept it and runs down the stairs, breaking his leg again. The following operation takes his life, but not before he comes to terms with the fact that, intentionally or not, Gene caused his accident.
The title A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, means that Gene has made a peace with himself apart from the war. Hanging over Devon like Damocle's sword, World War II is a depressing background to the story, ever present but rarely acknowledged. There are many conflicts within the novel that are affected by the war but independent of it—Gene's absorption of identity into Finny's, their friendship and later Gene's wariness of Finny, the loss of boyhood and innocence, health and then disability, and so on. Leper breaks down in his war, and Brinker attempts a stance of bluster and bravado about the fight. Gene wins his battle against Finny, simply because Finny, as a superior character, never fought. He also overcomes his inner demons, the ones that whispered of betrayal and treachery to Finny.
Gene and Finny seem to complement each other very well, the introverted intellectual and the charismatic athlete. However, there are darker undertones to their relationship. Gene muses to himself, “Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief when nausea passes away; I felt better. We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.” He believes that Finny is out to stop him from achievement, to hinder him in success. He is, therefore, an enemy. Finny's fall, accidentally or not, is the consequence of these dark feelings. The fall was highly symbolic; Adam and Eve ate from the tree, and were cast from the Garden of Eden, clothed in knowledge of good and evil. The time of games and light-hearted fun summer is over, though the boys may not realize it. The war becomes more real, especially as Leper joined the army. Overtly they are further separated from military thoughts, but subconsciously they know the truth of the fighting.
Numerous transformations take place in A Separate Peace. Most are concerned with the transition from boy to man, and one self to another. Finny tells Gene, “'Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,' and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” In a particular moment, Gene dons Finny's clothes after his friend's accident. Leper has horrific visions of men transforming into women, chairs and furniture changing into arms and legs, in the army.
Through Gene, Knowles describes Devon thoroughly, mapping out the boundaries of a world separate from the war. Aside from brief forays into the outside world, the most important events take place in the school, which is a microcosm of a world. Academics and athletics are the first concerns of the students—Gene and Finny personify the icons of these two. After Finny's fall, he becomes wholly dependent on Gene and they become, ironically enough, closer than ever. Later, when Brinker forces the truth of the accident on Finny, he initially refuses to accept it and runs down the stairs, breaking his leg again. The following operation takes his life, but not before he comes to terms with the fact that, intentionally or not, Gene caused his accident.
