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Identity In John Knowles 'A Separate Peace'

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In society most people have to come to terms with maturity and leave behind their innocence, but those who fail to do so perish in their identity, and those who succeed are greeted with an evolution of identity. In John Knowles’, “A Separate Peace”, characters Gene, Finny, and Leper struggle to come to terms with an evolution of identity. All of them are portrayed going through trial after trial, attempting to mature as people and ultimately find themselves evolving or perishing. Gene does succeed in evolving his identity, however Finny and Leper are not so lucky; fail to evolve and ultimately perish. In John Knowles’, “A Separate Peace” there are prime examples of those who evolve into their newfound identities and those who perish in their old ones, unable to move on. The first example of one who struggles with the evolution of identity is Gene. Gene’s initial identity lies in him trying to find faults in Finny so that he can justify his own faults as a human being. An example of this is Gene admitting this very statement, stating, “The …show more content…

Leper perishes because of his own awareness that his knowledge would not allow him to evolve and become one with nature. Finny perishes because of his own exaggerated trust in Gene and denial to accept reality. Gene in this case is unique, as he witnesses the other two perishing and learns from them, he comes to the realization that all along he himself was evil and flawed that led to his foolishness. Coming to this realization allows Gene to evolve in his identity and brings upon his coming of age. Ultimately these characters show that the coming of age and loss of innocence is evident in everyone and that it is required to move on in society, and those who fall behind and perish are not waited for and left

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