ipl-logo

Mla Citation For A Separate Peace

679 Words3 Pages

A Separate Peace by John Knowles, literally stands for something separate or elsewhere, but figuratively, it stands for how secluded they are from what is going on in the real world and how they cope with that separation. It also stands for the peace that Gene, the main character, finds after Finny’s death. With 42 million casualties in the US from World War II, and only one at Devon, it is easy to see which is better known in the world. Where the boarding school is placed makes it secluded from the outside world. It is isolated from the tumultuous war. The title a Separate Peace is a military term meaning that if they have an alliance with a nation they can refuse to fight the other nation’s enemy. The internal “war,” some might say, that Gene takes throughout the book to get rid of his guilt, is terminated after the death of Finny, and Gene is then reinstated with peace inside of himself. Although there is still a physical war going on, Gene has resolved and made peace with his situation. Gene’s “war “ended”(204) before he put on his uniform when he enlisted in the actual war. It is concluded that his war, which was separate from the real world, has allowed Gene to finally make peace with that he did and the consequences. …show more content…

The title is used as an ironic impression throughout the book. It helps with the understanding of the different themes of the book, and how the boys continue to cope with being away from the real world. During the carnival, Gene and Phineas and the other boys were having fun and enjoying themselves, they have cider and Gene calls it a “special and separate peace.”(137) This quote goes with the setting at this moment in the book because they are having fun and the title can be taken literally. It is easily seen that Gene knows he is separate from the world and that he hasn’t totally accepted his

Show More
Related

  • A Separate Peace Jealousy

    307 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the universality of jealousy and envy to develop a theme based upon man’s inhumanity to man. Fifteen years after attending Devon, an elite military preparatory school located in New Hampshire, the narrator, Gene Forrester, returned to reflect upon how fearful he was during the time he spent training and studying for World War II. He then decides to visit the places or symbols on the campus that were closely associated with his fear; a marble staircase and a tree placed near the bank of the river. As Gene visits these key symbols of fear, he flashes back upon his time at Devon. He remembers his best friend, Phineas or Finny, as a very superior athlete and charming young man.

    Read More

  • Character Development And Setting In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    871 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict In A Separate Peace

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Separate Peace, Unit Test Hamza Eldohiri The story “A Separate Peace”, written by John Knowles, was written at the time and takes place during World War II when battles and conflicts amongst nations were evident. Each nation involved struggled and fought their hardest in order to satisfy the good of their nation. Not only is the setting in the story taking place during this time of quarrel, the story also demonstrates areas of self-conflict and an internal battle throughout. The characters in “A Separate Peace”, are described as experiencing this self-conflicting, internal battle. Gene (also the narrator) is specifically depicted as he goes through his battle in life.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Forrester In A Separate Peace

    711 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A Separate Peace” portrays how Gene’s envy and imitation affects himself, his relationship with Finny, and how he finds his peace, or lack thereof, at the end of the book. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him in many ways. He starts to believe he was meant to become a part of Finny. After Finny broke his leg from falling out of a tree, he tells Gene that he must play sports for him. Gene then thinks to himself “and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas,” (Knowles 85).

    Read More

  • Insecurity In A Separate Peace

    1895 Words  | 8 Pages

    In the beginning Gene’s struggles of being better than Phineas identified him as his own person. However, Gene’s identity crisis and his loss of his own goals caused him to mold himself into another person. In other words, insecurities can negatively impact us physically, emotionally, and mentally. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, tells a story of a 16-year-old boy, Gene Forrester and his various feelings that he harbors for his gifted best friend, Phineas. Throughout the novel, Gene is constantly living in the shadow of Phineas in which he grows to breed resentment, envy, and even hate.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Desires In John Knowles 'A Separate Peace'

    979 Words  | 4 Pages

    Beware of Desires “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else 's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation,” observed Oscar Wilde. In the fictional novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles two best friends, Gene and Finny, both go to an elite boys ' private school in New Hampshire. Finny is a natural born leader and an athlete that easily succeeds in everything he does. Meanwhile, Gene is a bookworm that tries his best to be as successful as Finny.

    Read More

  • Gene's Jealousy In John Knowles A Separate Peace

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way Gene is affected throughout A Separate Peace is when he explains his self-destruction.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In A Separate Peace

    506 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Gene's younger days, he is carefree and thinks only of himself. Maturity becomes more prominent when Gene confesses his evil against Finny. By the end of the novel, Gene overcomes the battle of good vs evil within and observes, "... my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there." (A Separate Peace, 110).

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace: Chapter Analysis

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the beginning of A Separate Peace, Gene attempts to be equal to Finny in sports. Then when he realizes that's unattainable he switches to competing for being the valedictorian with himself edging out the competition just barely. Next with the return of Finny, he is convinced by the now crippled former all star athlete of the school to begin training for the upcoming olympics. Lastly Gene turns fully to academics when Finny finally realizes the war is real and there won't be a 1944 olympics. This ties into the main story because of how as his focus changes so does his mood towards himself and others, mostly Finny.

    Read More

  • Jealousy In A Separate Peace

    1024 Words  | 5 Pages

    Charles Kuralt once said, “ The love of family and the admirations of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” This quote shows how jealousy and popularity aren’t as important as relationships in your life. In the book, A Separate Peace, Gene has different priorities than relationships. Gene, a young boy who attends Devon boarding school, goes through many different trials along his grade school journey. He faces problems with friends and school life during the time of World War two and the draft being in full swing.

    Read More

  • Finny's Death In A Separate Peace

    438 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Separate Peace, the reader can see that Finny’s death was part of a chain reaction caused by Gene. His death shows that a person not knowing their identity and who they are could affect other people and not just themselves. Although Gene didn’t directly kill Phineas, we can see how Gene being so overly obsessed with trying to be someone he’s not affected several people. He lost his identity and it cost someone else’s life rather than his own.

    Read More

  • Quotes From A Separate Peace

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    On page 201-202 of A Separate Peace Gene narrates “I myself had often been happy at Devon, but such times it seemed to me that afternoon were over now.” This quote shows how Gene was changed from a carefree student to a worried soon-to-be solider. The troops only add to the feelings of sadness because of Finny's death since Gene sees what the future holds. Overall, John Knowles’ fictional book A Separate Peace has many themes.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Friendship In A Separate Peace

    1239 Words  | 5 Pages

    Friendship A Separate Peace has a very unique description of friendship. Throughout the book, Gene is jealous of Finny’s looks and what he is able to do. Gene has a lot of ambivalent feelings toward Finny. He wants to be Finny, but at the same time he is jealous of him.

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace: Character Analysis

    870 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first reason why Gene finds peace is because he realizes that Phineas was not the enemy and that the real enemy was himself. He describes the realization by saying, “All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy who they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way--if he was indeed the enemy.” (Knowles 204). At this point, in the end of the story, Gene recognizes that he was fighting a battle against someone who was not fighting back, and that the person he thought was the enemy was not actually the enemy. Next, Gene also gains peace because he finds his own identity after Phineas dies.

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace Character Analysis

    1268 Words  | 6 Pages

    In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, the main character, Gene Forrester, undergoes a traumatic journey to develop the aspects necessary for coping through adulthood. This novel is a flashback to the year of 1942, when Gene attends his final year at Devon High School, in New Hampshire. Although Gene appears to be Finny’s best friend, he follows in Finny’s steps so that his personality clones to be like Finny’s. Finny exposes new experiences that provoke Gene’s development into adulthood. As Gene engages in new experiences, he soon realizes that he envies Finny’s abilities.

    Read More

More about Mla Citation For A Separate Peace

Open Document