A Separate Peace Compare And Contrast

In John Knowles' historical novel A Separate Peace, Brinker, Gene, and Mr. Hadley have different opinions about war. The contrast of viewpoints are displayed through the tones and beliefs of each character. Mr. Hadley, having already served in the war, has a conversation with his son Brinker and Gene (upcoming draftees for World War II) that reveal each of their feelings. The boys are annoyed and uneasy with the concept of war throughout the conversation with Mr. Hadley, and so is John Knowles. Mr. Hadley, however, has a pleasant opinion toward the war.

Brinker and Gene are indignant towards the war. During the discussion with Mr. Hadley, Knowles uses to details to note how "[Gene] could see Brinker was more embarrassed by this than [he]

Hadley welcomes the subject. Brinker would not have been embarrassed if he had a positive opinion, and Knowles would not have illustrated the fact that he is embarrassed, but this is not the case. Instead, he is humiliated only because Mr. Hadley keeps talking about it. Knowles uses logical appeals to represent how Gene imposes that everyone has shortcomings, and here, it is Mr. Hadley. Knowles clearly vouches that Mr. Hadley - who supports the war - has shortcomings. Knowles is transmitting a drawback in character, (Mr. Hadley) to the reader. Brinker also mumbles how "we'll do what we have to" in order to serve in the military. Brinker's tone is not showing much respect to Mr. Hadley and Knowles details that he is mumbling - a feeble effort to have a conversation instead of being optimistic and passionate of what Mr. Hadley has to say. Brinker has a negative tone toward Mr. Hadley due to his

Hadley is content about it. He goes on to indicate that the "boys are the image of [him] and [his] gang in the old days. It does [him] good to see [the boys]." Instead of opening with a caustic remark, he elates the conversation by opening with a positive statement, almost as if he wants the boys to be excited about war. Nonetheless, it does not work and keeps the boys in an unhappy state of mind. Mr. Hadley also exclaims that there are "doggone many exciting things to enlist in these days." By emphasizing how terrible a situation can be, such as war, Mr. Hadley still attempts to enlighten the boys by proclaiming that there are many options in the military as compared to the old days, which he infers will help change the boys' opinions. He also asserts that "war memories will be with [the boys] forever" and he somehow knows that the "boys want to see plenty of action." Mr. Hadley is pursuing to make it seem like war is a great place filled with memories and that by experiencing war, the boys' lust for action will be diminished in an instant. War involves horrific memories that inflict permanent damage on a human. When confronted by Brinker's response of how the boys can only do so much, Mr. Hadley declares that "[they] can do more! A lot more!" Mr. Hadley is correlating war with extremely positive effects and that by joining the military and supporting the war, the characters will exhibit positive effects