1. War is caused because of the natural hatred human has, and the natural greed. If man loved, and not tried to challenge what they don’t have, the world would be a special place, but like John Locke once said, Man is naturally evil. Man for centuries has been attacking itself in search for something it does not have. John Knowles but it right when he said “It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.”

2. Those who are weak, follow not his own personality, but adapts one of another human being. Along with this comes the tendency to do things he sees others do. For example, Gene jumps off the tree, he’s shamed into it. He doesn’t want to believe it, but he does. The adaptation of Finny’s personality comes with him hurting him, he adapts his personality because he believes that he is no one. He wants to be loved by his friends by doing things his friends liked, not the ones he does.

3. When a human’s values and beliefs are threatened, it tends to lash out violently. The classic case in this story, Gene jouncing the limb to hurt Finny. He felt like he was threatened, he felt like his academics was being purposefully being tainted by Finny’s antics. When Leper was threatening Gene’s cover-up from the ordeal with Leper, he attacked him in his chair. It goes to show that people tend to not want to see the truth, even if it stares them right in the face.

1. The Summer and Winter Sessions. The summer session is where the boys have fun and enjoy themselves, breaking the rules, and doing other childly things. Summer usually has to do with warmth, and innocence. The winter session is the session after Finny is gone due to his leg, and is when the law that they once broke hit them hard. Winter is usually affiliated with loneliness and darkness, but it is where the conflicts between students arise.

2. The tree:

The tree at the first resembled the friendship between Finny and Gene. It was something that brought them together as friends. But later, the tree comes to be the setting of an act of violence, and the tree no longer serves as the bonding point between those two.

3. The Devon and Naguamsett rivers

The Devon river serves as the hangout during the summer sessions between the boys and their social club. It’s clean and serene, and a peaceful location where boys where to be boys. The Naguamsett river was quite the opposite, dirty and murky, not a place to play in. It was also during the session after Finny was gone, and it was the location of Quackenbush’s and Gene’s fight.

4. The snowball fight

Whereas the snowball fight might have been all fun and games for the boys, deep inside, they were playing war. Maybe the boys don’t know their own strength or not, they might just have let it rip and actually hit each other hard. It’s not always fun and games in a school like that where the conflicts with other boys are at an all time high.

5. Peace/Violence in the Story

In this case, the violence came first. Obviously, Gene hurt Finny….bad. But that ball didn’t stop rolling, through that act of violence, Gene tried to learn. Gene tried to learn from his mistakes and attempted to try to keep Finny’s memory on by keeping his spirit alive in him. So through that, he finally achieves peace after Finny’s death, as he finally understood what Finny was there for.

“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 part of Phineas”

The entire story revolves around a boy’s transformation after his evil demented minute of fame. The theme here is transformation. Before Phineas, he was a smart kid, very studious, the type of student that would go on to become a doctor or a world famous lawyer. During and after Phineas, he changed completely, but he didn’t change himself. He was changed, he was touched by Phineas and his ideologies. He claimed it his purpose to become part of Phineas, it was what his life at Devon was to become. After he maimed Phineas, he felt like he owed it to him, like in order for both of them to achieve peace is to have both bodies live in one. It was Gene’s job to transform, to evolve with the times. He says soaring sense of freedom, a careful choice of words to use. He felt relieved, like an epiphany he had. At that time he knew that in order to be free, he had to be freed from the guilt and sorrow he held for almost killing his best friend.

Gene comes back, comes back to the past that belongs to him. He notices the two things that characterized his life at Devon. The marble stairs, and that big bad tree. He remembers Phineas, and what’s not to remember. He had changed his life, for better or worse, no one knows. The go through school together, Finny challenging him to break who he was on the inside. He challenges him to jump off the tree, and even saves his life once. But of course it wasn’t all fairies and unicorns with Gene. In becoming Finny’s friend, he flunks a test or two, and slowly becomes someone he didn’t ever think he could become. Then, he does the unthinkable. He jounces the limb of the tree, causing Finny to fall and break his leg. But it wasn’t just a broken leg, it was, “No more sports, Finny”, or it was “You aren’t enlisting, Finny.” He was done for, and he knew it, which is why he enlists Gene to do everything he can’t. Then, while Finny is gone, Gene begins contemplating enlisting with Brinker and Leper, but Finny has other plans for him, and Gene uses Finny’s return as an excuse to not enlist. In between, there’s the Winter Olympics and the Winter Carnival that ends up being cancelled. But then Leper does the unthinkable and enlists. He had been discharged for being crazy, but before they handed the official order, he retreated back to his home where he talked to Gene. This event is special because it opens up Gene to the horrors of the war. Shortly after, Brinker drags in Finny and Gene into the assembly hall where they attempt to convict Gene of injuring the hero who never was. Leper makes the appearance and has Finny believe what he didn’t want to believe. In a fit of rage he walks out and breaks his leg again. But this time, it’s cleaner break. After he is in the infirmary, Gene goes to visit Finny and spills the beans, and they make up. He then dies, Finny dies. He doesn’t even cry, but he does come to realize what Finny meant to him. He learned from Finny who didn’t hate the enemy he never faced.

1. “It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart”

One of my favorite quotes, this quote alone explains human nature. A very insightful quote from John Knowles, and a very good theory on human nature. I chose it because these are my exact thoughts on wars that could have prevented by giving peace a chance. All you need is love after all.

2.“Everything has to evolve or else it perishes.”

This is a very Darwinistic quote from Knowles, it’s survival of the fittest. It’s dog eat dog world, and if you don’t move along with the world, you get left behind to gather dust. I chose it because in the world we live in today, you can’t afford to be held back by the little things that prevent you from becoming a better person. You have to change with the world.

3. “Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him.”

One of the truest things ever said by man. Your past, or your present plays a big part of your future, and if your past/present was affected by a big war, then your entire future is trying to recover from that war.

4.“Never say you are five feet nine when you are five feet eight and a half”.  Never say something you’re not. Finny was a realistic kid, not much of an optimist. But this quote is true, just don’t pretend you’re something you’re not. You aren’t lying to anybody but yourself, and that’s something Finny tried to explain to Gene.

5.“You want to break something else in me! Is that why you’re here?”

Finny obviously is not referring to an actual body part, he’s referring to his heart being broken. The trust he had in Gene, smashed into pieces. But the book did a good job of saying that you could break Finny’s leg, but you can’t break his spirit. I chose this quote because it pretty much described Finny’s feelings, and that’s something you didn’t see too much of from him.

6.“He and his crowd are responsible for it! And we’re going to fight it!”

Brinker, Mr. Army ranger says this. He’s obviously not bought into the war, and like a normal young teen, he passes the blame to the generation before him. But the blame doesn’t fall to the generation before him, it falls to human kind itself. This quote is among my favorites because you see their thoughts on the war. Most of them are so Gung-Ho and that the don’t even know what they’re fighting for. Brinker knows though, and so does Gene.

7. “If you break the rules, then the rules broke you.”

Gene “Pannies-inna-wad” Forrester 1944. Among his famous sayings, this is the best one he could have thought of. Gene is all about the rules, all about being the rules, all about following the rules. But what he says is true, if you break the rules, obviously the temptation was too great, and you caved in. This is a moral, a characteristic of life. You can’t go around breaking the rules, you have to follow them, without them, you are a criminal. Gene’s next should have been “Don’t drop the soap.” It would be something that would come out of his mouth.

8.“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.”

He killed his real enemy. And much to the reader’s dismay, his real enemy wasn’t Brinker, it wasn’t Leper, it wasn’t Quackenbush, it wasn’t Chett Douglass. Heck, it wasn’t even Phineas. His real enemy was himself. Although the killing of himself did come with Finny’s death, Finny wasn’t an enemy to anybody. Conflict resolved, Gene finds peace with himself.

9. “I did not cry then or ever about Finny….I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case”

The killing of himself. He didn’t cry because he was heartless, he didn’t cry because he wasn’t friends with Finny. The boy cried because what enabled him to cry died away with Finny. He had nothing to cry about, and that’s why he didn’t cry. He who was Gene became Finny and died Ginny. (Gene+Finny=Ginny) This quote was certainly a powerful one, it was deep. Almost made me cry.

10.”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 part of Phineas”

The story revolved around Gene’s transformation, and why not, it’s a big deal to Gene himself. The problem is what it took for him to understand what Finny was doing in his life. He was there for a lot more than just to push Gene to be something else. This quote is one of the top favorites, because I was seeing myself come together. My Gene side and my Phineas side smashing into one big life form.

 

In the story of a Separate Peace most characters are extremely dynamic. One of the characters that goes through major change is Gene Forrester.  In the beginning of the story, after the flashback begins, Gene is the studious kid, very reserved and very quiet. When he met Finny, slowly transformed into Finny himself, taking on his attitude. At one point, even putting on his clothes  and stating that he was Finny. His attitude towards academics wasn’t at such a level where he prioritized them. He becomes a lot more relaxed, but at the same time depressed because of what he did to Finny. And it’s exactly because of that, Finny’s accident, that he changed. After seeing him in the hospital bed, and Finny says that Gene will play sports of him is when he changes. He states “my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” So that’s what he does, the spirit of Phineas lives on with him. Not only did he owe it to Finny, but he owed it to himself. That was how he was to achieve peace, to rid of the guilt that haunts him. When Finny dies, he died with him, and he begins to understand why Finny was there. He was there to teach him to be free, to not let the rules tie him down. He also taught him to not hate.

John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, is certainly a detailed read, leaving more questions than answers on the readers mind. But much like the teen anthem’s from the band Nirvana, the book certainly could speak to the teens of that era, and even still touch the readers of today.

For starters, the characters in the novel are very flawed teens, Knowles makes it a point to highlight them. But most of all, I enjoyed how much the characters were able to speak to me, such as Finny’s recklessness and Gene’s odd anger and personality issues.  The setting is marvelously set, in the heart of America in a time where war is the backdrop to the teen’s lives. It really helps to dramatize the story, gives it an edge for the characters who are nearing the time to enlist to fight for their country, And just like the setting, the plot is very well structured, even to the unfavorable end where the entire story becomes a haze. Whereas some of my peers may think Finny didn’t need to die, I certainly think John Knowles chose correctly to kill of Finny. In order for Gene to achieve peace, a part of him needed to die to understand life as it was in those times. Finny was almost preaching peace more than hatred, and that’s something he taught Gene, something he came to understand because of Finny’s death.

I certainly would encourage this read, it really was entertaining and Knowles’ theories on human nature incorporated in the story truly helps us as human beings to understand ourselves. I would have changed the ending, I would have included more depth, stuff hit the fan way too fast.

Phineas and Gene Forrester. The two names that almost haunt the story. They could be described as Ying and Yang, two complete opposites who manage to find each other and use each other. Phineas, the outgoing, handsome athlete who lives in a world without rules, and Gene, the geek at the school who is intelligent, nonathletic, and very reserved. They symbolize the two sides to human nature, and throughout the story they actually taught me something.

Gene, the studious kid who’s personality changed as he spent more time with Finny. He is really easily “shamed” into doing things, but he doesn’t like to admit it. He’s one that tends to roam with the crowd, just trying to fit in like any regular teenage kid. Gene is also a worrier. He’s one of those that if you stick a coal up his butt, it’ll come out a diamond in just a matter of minutes. He knows how to have fun, only when he’s shamed. Alone, he’d be nothing.  He also has an odd anger, which caused him to injure his so called best friend.

Phineas is quite the opposite. He has the “I don’t really care too much” philosophy about the things he does.  To him, the rules are meant to be bent, and aren’t something to set in stone. He, unlike Gene, is very “popular”, always has someone around him, traveling as a group. His smarts are not on par with Gene, him being one of the first to admit it, but his smarts come in different fashions, such as his slick  talking or things of that nature.

In my mind, these two young men are actually me. They are the two sides to me, a fairly intelligent kid with a reckless attitude. They both collectively taught me about myself, and my character flaws.

The novel, A Separate Peace, is a realistic fiction piece that takes place in a school in New Hampshire. It is realistic in the fact that the novel was based on the real life events of World War 2. The depiction of the life of the boys behind closed campus (sometimes open) is what young teenagers could have experienced in a military school at that time.  The novel takes place in a military school, Devon, in New Hampshire. The time period is World War 2, circa 1940s, a time where young gentlemen were being prepared for shipping off into a war that wasn’t exactly theirs, but the country’s.  The location of the story is a vital component to the framework. The walls of the school are supposed to symbolize the isolation from war, but the peace gradually leaves the school as stated in the first sentence of Chapter 6.  The war that takes place outside the school manages to seep in to create conflict with Gene and his companions.

The book is fiction, as the characters are not real, along with Devon. The lifestyle of the military school is real, and that could very well happen today, the only exception is the dramatic “backdrop” the war has that shrouds the story in a negative way.

The title A Separate Peace refers to the peace reserved for schools that are separated from the war that goes on outside of the campus. The environment that the school provides is an environment where the war is non-existent, where the hatred and the violence that the world had to offer did not sink in for the boys attending Devon high school. In fact for Finny, the war didn’t even exist, it was just a made up thing for him. The school of Devon was a separate piece, isolated from the outside world.  Although they can be prepared for the war with drills and things of that nature, they can never truly teach to the kids at Devon to abandon their peaceful nature as just teenage boys. The hate the world has is something completely unknown to the boys. The violence was unknown to them. It was almost as if they were imprisoned for their own benefit.

It also could be a reference to Gene reserving a separate piece of body to be Finny, to live through Finny. It was his duty to Finny to be Finny. It was only through living through Finny could Gene achieve peace for injuring and inevitably killing him.