Many people think of their best friends, and they are happy to see them, want to do things with them, and are just generally glad to have them around. However, in John Knowles’s A Separate Peace, this is not the case with friends Phineas and Gene. In this novel, Knowles uses the protagonist, Gene forrester, to help show how betrayal can ruin friendships. He uses many techniques, including foreshadowing, figurative language, and symbolism.
Around 1945, tensions began arising between the US and the USSR, which lead to the Cold War. During a 40 year time period, each nation tried to spread their political and economic systems. Both the US and the USSR wanted to spread their ideologies across the world. The origin of the Cold War was distrust; in “fighting” this war, the political and military tactics were the most effective.
At the end of World War II, Western European powers sought political stability after a period of turmoil and devastation. Germany was divided into two spheres of influence: East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union, and West Germany, controlled by the Allies. Western Europe attempted to unify in the post-war economy, and various views arose regarding this potential unity. The unification of Western Europe was met with opinions that were largely motivated by a nation’s own economic and political interests.
Winston Churchill, in his informational speech, “Their Finest Hour” (June 18th, 1940) explained the military situation and rallied his people for what he probably knew was going to be a tremendous struggle against the Axis. Winston Churchill supports his thesis through, rhetorical questioning, pathos, ethos and logos. Churchill’s purpose was to inform and rally the people in order to strengthen their confidence in Britain 's military. Churchill was addressing the people of Britain as he uses a formal tone, in explaining the military situation.
All great speeches have a purpose, either to rally the population, promote some idea or to encourage others. Winston Churchill’s Speech entitled “Their Finest Hour” has gone down in history as one of the greatest and most powerful speech of the Second World War. It was given in response to the fall of the France in the war, and helped establish the tone for the people of the United Kingdom, that despite the great loss, they still had hope to overcome the enemy forces. Churchill’s speech inspired patriotism, determination and hope. This speech was directed at all the people in the United Kingdom, to unite and to promise a better hope, despite of Hitler’s attempts at world domination and the victory of the Nazis in almost every battle in Europe. This speech did that and established Winston Churchill as one of the greatest leaders in British history, within his first few months of taking office as Prime Minister of Great Brittan.
World War II is a time of great struggle for humanity, especially for those within the midst of the battlegrounds. During the June of 1940 in an attempt to boost his citizen’s morale and confidence, Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), gave his speech “We shall fight on the beaches” at the British House of Commons. The rhetorical purpose of this speech is to convince the people of the UK that they have a fighting chance against the Axis forces, even if the worst comes to show. In order to gain people’s support, Churchill employed the rhetorical strategies of historical evidence and emotional appeal.
World War II was a devastating war. Nations were being taken over, the economy was going down, and people were choosing sides.
Churchill stated that what he was saying was not aiming at " recrimination", and all he wanted was to give the people a clear image of England 's situation. Churchill continues his speech by telling his people that instead of worrying about the past, they rather be thinking about the future, and about all the things they could do to gain victory. As Churchill says: "of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future." Churchill also talked about how the people should obey their leaders and trust that were doing what was the best for
Furthermore, Winston always believed that a person should always fight for what is right, and that is what he did. With Winston leading his country against Germany, he led with an attitude of bravery and confidence, similar to how the British were feeling at that time. For example, Winston Churchill gave one of his most iconic speeches on the special day of June 4, 1940, where he used his words to inspire people to stand up for the Allies. As a politician he even gave a speech to Parliament and told them he had, “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” (history.com) He was showing that he himself was ready to fight as well. Winston Churchill helped change the outcome of the War. He had finally achieved the sweet moment of victory
Toner’s three O’s, owing, ordering, and oughting. According to the Barnes Center lesson on Ethical Leadership a leader who possesses this strength shows that they owe others respect and dignity, they understand that they are ordered to do what is right no matter what, they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and understand that they ought to do what is needed to help others no matter how hard that may be. Churchill knew this and it was never more evident than when gave a speech in 1946 from the U.S denouncing the Soviet’s propaganda of spreading communism. According to History.com, Winston Churchill accused the Soviet Union of being the biggest threat to Christian civilization and for trying to spread communism throughout the world. This was the first time that another leader called out the Soviet Union for being a threat to the European values and it was labeled “The Iron Curtain Speech”. Churchill understood that even though the war was over the west could not just let the Soviet Union attempt to destroy the European way of life and that he could not sit by and let them just try to put a stronghold on Europe by spreading communism. He refused to let this happen even if he was worn out from WWII, he couldn’t be complacent and he fought back and never let up and pushed his allied nations to help protect the ones who needed it the
In his book, When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940, Robin Prior makes the argument that with the key events that transpired in 1940, including the ascension of Winston Churchill to the office of Prime Minister, and the Battle of Britain, Britain saved the West in 1940. Through important papers of the time such as combat reports and diaries, Prior digs deep to show how Britain was able to be so successful. Despite his defensive position of Britain during the war, Robin Prior was actually born in rural Australia. He attended the University of Adelaide, obtaining multiple degrees, all in art and history, culminating with a PhD in 1979. Focusing on topics such as World War I, World War II and the British and Australian armies, Prior has
A Separate Peace begins when Gene Forrester returns to Devon boarding school, the school in which he attended during world war two. It had been fifteen years since he had been there. Walking through the campus Gene remembers his time spent there. The one he remembered a lot was the summer session in '42 when he was 16.
In order to prevent Nazi Germany and its allies from conquering the world, Winston Churchill strongly argues that United states should summon military forces with those of Britain. Churchill makes an effective argument by using sentimental terms to first get empathy or the support from the Americans, and then to highlight the significance of the issue. Furthermore, with the simultaneous use of logical reasoning, the author even more strengthens his argument.
One important event that happened in A Separate Peace is when Gene tries to confess to Finny that he pushed the branch down, which ended in Finny shattering his leg. This happens during their Summer Vacation. Gene goes to visit Finny at his house, where Finny has been recovering from his injury. When Gene first arrived at Finny’s dwelling, Finny was his jokester self, while Gene was nervously awaiting the moment of his divulgence. Gene eases Phineas into the conversation of the incident, at the same time he bluntly states that he was the cause. “I was thinking about it… about you-- I was thinking about you and the accident because I caused it.” Gene said those words to Finny. Finny didn’t believe Gene when he told him this news. Phineas is
In his essay “Churchill and Roosevelt,” Sir Isaiah Berlin compares and contrasts the personalities of Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States. Berlin begins his essay by comparing Churchill’s political abilities to that of Disraeli. He then states that Roosevelt possesses similar powers as Churchill. However, according to Berlin, Churchill and Roosevelt are actually much more different than they are alike. These differences are, in his opinion, very obviously brought out by the roles each leader played in World War II. While Berlin tries to maintain a façade of objectiveness, he clearly favors Churchill over Roosevelt.