A Separate Peace Literary Analysis Essay

A Separate Piece of Literature In the words of the great Friedrich Nietzsche, “There are no facts, only interpretations”. Now, while this quote may not be applicable to everything, it certainly finds its place in literature, more specifically framed narratives. Already, in literature, biases are developed by the reader towards certain characters or events that change the reader’s outlook on the entire book in most cases. And when the person narrating the novel may derive personal gain from contorting the facts, however minor, it results in an even more skewed perspective for the reader. Gene narrating the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, results in a story different from what it would be if it was a third person narrative, due to the fact that everything is every biased by Gene’s perspective.

Gene narrating the novel makes it so that the events within it contain his biases. This is a direct result of the fact that the story is written from a framed narrative perspective. Stories being written from the point of view of someone who is looking at the past generally result in a

As proven by not only the events and interpretations of certain characters being biased, but by the fact that almost every part of the novel could have been altered by a strange perspective. And while this outlook on perspective can be most easily applied to framed narratives, it can more oftenly and more usefully be applied to examples in the real world. Whether it be while listening to a convicted murderer’s alibi in court and understanding that natural human sympathy can be quite deceiving, or while listening to a spouse discuss their perspective on the issues of the relationship, it should be understood that maintaining an objective outlook on life is the most honest way to live and