In John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, he depicts what life is like for a group of boys living at a private boarding school, Devon. These boys form bonds and strong friendships with each other; however, they are faced with the challenges of growing up during World War Two. Like regular high school kids these boys play games, attend school and mess around with each other. As the boys navigate into adulthood, they struggle to find their own identities as the deal with who they are and who they want to be. As each boy matures into adulthood, he is faced with decisions that can impact their social status and their future lives. One of the most significant characters in the novel, Gene, the narrator faces many challenges as he tries to find
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Between Genes awe of finny and him wanting to be Finny, Gene loses the ability to be himself because he is so focused on Finny and what he thinks someone should be like. Gene is so jealous of Finny that he wants to literally take his place. When Finny breaks his leg, Finny tells Gene that he should play Finnys’ sports in order to fill him in. Gene takes this too far and doesn’t realize that he is becoming a part of Finny. Finny is the one character in this book who knows who he is and what he wants to be in the long run. He is very proud in who he is and never tries to be anyone or anything that he knows he is not. He knows that he will never be the smartest and relies on his athleticism. After Finnys accident he makes Gene into him since he can’t do anything because of his leg. Leper’s choices are the most surprising because he contradicts his beliefs and joins the war when he didn’t really want to. Leper’s unexpected enlistment surprised all of his friends because in the beginning of the book he was a very timid boy but then shows a courageous act of patriotism in enlisting in a brutal war. When he returns Gene visits him and realizes how much the war has changed him. He knew that war was not the right place for him. Adolescence can be a rough time for most kids but even more so for the kids at Devon with World War Two going on in the
Between Genes awe of finny and him wanting to be Finny, Gene loses the ability to be himself because he is so focused on Finny and what he thinks someone should be like. Gene is so jealous of Finny that he wants to literally take his place. When Finny breaks his leg, Finny tells Gene that he should play Finnys’ sports in order to fill him in. Gene takes this too far and doesn’t realize that he is becoming a part of Finny. Finny is the one character in this book who knows who he is and what he wants to be in the long run. He is very proud in who he is and never tries to be anyone or anything that he knows he is not. He knows that he will never be the smartest and relies on his athleticism. After Finnys accident he makes Gene into him since he can’t do anything because of his leg. Leper’s choices are the most surprising because he contradicts his beliefs and joins the war when he didn’t really want to. Leper’s unexpected enlistment surprised all of his friends because in the beginning of the book he was a very timid boy but then shows a courageous act of patriotism in enlisting in a brutal war. When he returns Gene visits him and realizes how much the war has changed him. He knew that war was not the right place for him. Adolescence can be a rough time for most kids but even more so for the kids at Devon with World War Two going on in the