As with many novels, there are an extensive amount of ways that one could interpret the story A Separate Peace by John Knowles. In Gene Forrester's narration, his actions and thoughts, as well as his reflection of those times in his past, portray multiple meanings that are underlying in the plot. From the past to the present, it can be seen how Gene has changed, grown separate from who he was back then. There are also the many examples of good and especially evil which are seen throughout. The horrendous effects that envy and hatred can bring that are a key part in the emotional telling of this story. These are all different ways in which A Separate Peace can be viewed as, each of them being uniquely intricate in the way they frame the plot.
…show more content…
In the introduction, we are shown two places that Gene is fearful of, but wanted to revisit; the staircase and the tree. It isn’t until the ending of the story that we learn why he became faint hearted at the thought and sight of these specific locations, but once it is revealed, we know Gene has made great strides after all these years to be able to handle returning. It could be inferred that since he has gained the courage to come back, Gene has grown to realize that he had been terribly misillusioned during that time. It is also possible that this story is representative of growing up in that Gene and all of his close friends that lived to graduate from Devon had joined some branch of the military. They had said that the older kids who did this were finally men once they joined, and after having joined themselves, they thought they were …show more content…
Throughout the year that the main plot takes place, Gene seemed to quite easily become overly affected with these feelings towards Finny. Without taking any time to evaluate the situation, Gene kept letting Finny’s overall charm and athleticism make him feel lesser and this continued to grow and grow until it became purely hatred for just enough of an instance for everything to begin going wrong. The effects of these feelings within Gene just continue to snowball until they lead to his friends death. It’s not hard at all for the reader to see the effects of envy and hate throughout the
In the introduction, we are shown two places that Gene is fearful of, but wanted to revisit; the staircase and the tree. It isn’t until the ending of the story that we learn why he became faint hearted at the thought and sight of these specific locations, but once it is revealed, we know Gene has made great strides after all these years to be able to handle returning. It could be inferred that since he has gained the courage to come back, Gene has grown to realize that he had been terribly misillusioned during that time. It is also possible that this story is representative of growing up in that Gene and all of his close friends that lived to graduate from Devon had joined some branch of the military. They had said that the older kids who did this were finally men once they joined, and after having joined themselves, they thought they were …show more content…
Throughout the year that the main plot takes place, Gene seemed to quite easily become overly affected with these feelings towards Finny. Without taking any time to evaluate the situation, Gene kept letting Finny’s overall charm and athleticism make him feel lesser and this continued to grow and grow until it became purely hatred for just enough of an instance for everything to begin going wrong. The effects of these feelings within Gene just continue to snowball until they lead to his friends death. It’s not hard at all for the reader to see the effects of envy and hate throughout the