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A Separate Peace Identity Analysis

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According to “Authenticity and Identity” by the author, Bob Edelstein, he interprets an identity is classified as values that reflect who a person is. A person having a lack of understanding what their own values are called the term “identity crisis” which is explained by Susan Krauss Whitbourne in the article “Are You Having an Identity Crisis?”. According to Shahram Heshmat, the author of “Basic of Identity”, “Lack of a coherent sense of identity will lead to uncertainty about what one wants to do in the life” (1). This states that if a person has this lack of understanding about their values, can’t fulfil their own qualities. This relates to the characters of A Separate Peace. Within the novel, the characters question who they are and …show more content…

This questioning of their identity builds up when their own perception of success, personal fears, and jealousies spiral out of control. The character Gene in A Separate Peace written by John Knowles, is conflicted with his feelings towards his best friend, Finny, since Gene is envious of Finny’s charisma as well as athletic talent. Therefore, Gene attempts to impersonate Finny because Gene lacks in seeing his own potential. The people who have this issue as stated in the article by Susan Krauss Whitbourne, “People low in identity commitment have an uncertain sense of …show more content…

The whole meaning of identity is altered into the the change in one’s personal quality in order to fit everyone else's perception of who they should be. Overall, their identity was never situated by the fact that the characters lacked the understanding of being their own person with their gifted qualities. The reality of the war is a key factor to why the society, school, and families caused the characters to change themselves. They felt the need to fit in because they saw everyone else doing so and that was what they were taught to do by the school’s main goal. A Separate Peace demonstrated the characters struggle of dealing with the change of themselves and how they had this confusion of who they really are. Gene, Finny, Leper, and Brinker didn’t even have to enlist in the war since all along, the war was the conflict about

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