A Separate Peace Literary Analysis

In Gene’s case, disloyalty and cowardice appears through his metaphorical bad heart. Gene’s insecurities got in the way of his friendship with Phineas. He was jealous that Finny could never get in trouble, and that he appeared to be perfect in almost every way. When Gene began to believe that Phineas wanted to surpass him academically, he felt threatened. This mixed with his jealousy, and caused him to impulsively shake the tree limb that Phineas was standing on, making him fall and shatter his leg.

Mccandless sense of self confidence while trying to find his identity helped him to progress in life, but was also his greatest downfall; Into the Wild demonstrates self confidence as not an unacceptable trait to have, but the significance of the negative or positive effects it can possess. Confidence played a big role in Mccandless life, so much that he created relationships with his family and other people that caused him to go on his adventures. Throughout this book Mccandless expresses his hate towards his parents. When he was old enough to realize that his dad had cheated on his mom this particular aspect changed him.

In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Phineas, who is commonly called Finny, takes on the role of a light character. Thus, Finny is portrayed to be lighthearted and kind to almost everyone, even if they arguably do not deserve it. However, Finny’s lack of ability to be skeptical eventually leads to his downfall.

Identity is an important factor in life, and not knowing yours affects more than just yourself. Gene and Finny’s relationship is a reflection of real life friendships. While most friendships don't end in one person killing the other, the novel A Separate Peace still teaches the reader what not to do in order to make a friendship

The author, John Knowles, in the novel, “A Separate Peace”, conveys the lesson of friendship, or rather the lack of, with his use of diction. The strategy in which the author phrased certain sections of dialogue between Finny and Gene is there to show that Finny cares for Gene despite Gene’s obvious discontent. The friendship is a one-way street, and the author uses diction to represent this unbalance in the relationship, leading to friendship being a key theme throughout the book. There exist many examples of this diction throughout the novel, one of these is during their illegal beach trip. “I hope you’re having a pretty good time here.

So by being paranoid a person might ruin his connections with his friends or family. As Creon was throwing his fit of stubbornness his son tried reasoning with him. His son bringing in nature claims “ in flood-time you can see how some trees bend,/ And because they bend, even their twigs are safe,/ While stubborn trees are torn up roots and all”( Sophocles 571-573). This is easily applicable to everyone. Due to his stubbornness, that was created by his paranoia, Creon loses all positive connections in the world, making him wish death upon himself.

For Example, one of Gene’s weaknesses is that he is constantly thinking everyone is out to get him, so he does things that he will later regret, “I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb” (60). This quote shows that Gene will do things because of jealousy, frustration, or regret. This also shows Gene’s weakness because before this Finny told Gene that he should study instead of go to the tree yet Gene decided to go to the tree and kept in mind that Finny was out to get him. Another example of Gene’s weaknesses is that he never says what he wants to say, so when Finny asked Gene if he would go with Finny to the beach for the night, Gene wanted to say no so bad and yet he says, “‘All right’, I said” (46). This shows that Gene’s subconscious will take over and say things that he thinks that other people will want to hear.

Jasper Jones is the example of where poor aptitude and attitude will lead.” .Thusly, he is avoided by most of the similarly aged youth as their parents advise against associating themselves with him. Charlie however, sees Jasper for who he is, and is able to identify that Jasper is being used as the town’s scapegoat because he is of mixed ethnic background, and that his thievery is morally justified. Though Jasper is isolated, he is still appreciated by his football team as he is skilful in this field as well as being a year older than the other kids in his

When the British were going through Redding, they took twelve people, but released nine of them. Jerry was sadly one of the three taken. Taking a boy and releasing someone who is of more threat to them is very unreasonable. Tim was very saddened and was angered at the British for it as he thought the British were people he could support at the time. He had lots of fun with Jerry fishing and climbing trees, but he expected to be friends with him for longer.

It symbolizes the human desire to hold onto love and even though the foundation of trust and security is no longer there. Through the representation of Arthur and Lancelot’s friendship, White shows the purity of friendship and how it can be greatly influenced by other

I was not the same quality as he,” (59) – took a step towards Finny, but his intention was not the same as Finny’s innocent one. Gene “jounced the limb,” (60) – on purpose – making Finny fall into the body of water unprepared. Gene, not attempting to catch Phineas before he falls is a major sign of betrayal, considering the act that Finny had done for him previously. Knowles included the look on Phineas’s face as he was falling down describing it as a face with extreme interest. The connotation of the sentence makes it seem as if Phineas was half expecting Gene to push him off the

He revisits this place and holds guilt within him because of what he did to Finny there. I will never truly get over what happened to Phineas, although it was finally equal between us I lost my best friend. I hold a guilt inside of me that slowly gets worse. I shook the branch and made it fall, I myself cannot truly tell whether or not I meant to shake that branch but I do regret it.

As seen, Lennie continue to show friendship with almost everyone he encounters, from his buddy George to the other ranchers. Lennie could have been a great friend, but mental issues and other things seemed to hinder him from achieving a lot of things in life. He looked out for George when he could, and when he could he would try to help out George, because he wanted the best for George and himself, and he wanted to achieve the goal of having their own ranch. Anyone who read the book knows that George definitely had a different plan in mind. A friend is a person who of which you have a mutual bond with.

Within the pages of A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the main character Gene goes through a multitude of changes; in his life and in his being. Living at Devon, an all-boys private school in scenic New England, gives his changes even less room to grow and adapt in such a secluded environment. At the center of these dramatic changes is his relationship with his closest friend Finny. A tipping point in this relationship is when Gene makes the decision to “jounce the limb” of the tree he and Finny are standing on, causing Finny to fall and cripple himself.

Sean Duhey Mrs. Peeler 2 5/15/17 A Separate Peace A Separate Peace takes place Devon school in New Hampshire during the summer session in 1942. World War 2 plays a huge role with the students daily live and routines at school. The setting is key in the novel because Gene goes to different spots of the school where he had memories of Finny. Gene Forrester is the protagonist because he is the narrator of the the story he appears to be a middle aged man visiting his old school