Analysis Of A Separate Peace By John Knowles

The opening passage of “A Separate Peace” sets protagonist and first-person narrator Gene Forrester at the Devon school, the private prep-school in New Hampshire, that he graduated from fifteen years prior. Now in about his mid-30s, it is evident that since his time at Devon, Gene has undergone great change, recognizing the immense fear in his days at Devon that wasn’t clear to him the. Gene’s perspective and description of the school is evidence to that, now as an adult, he is now much wiser and more mature than in his youth. As an introduction to the rest of the story, this passage also foreshadows how Gene had significant, life-changing experiences that influenced him. Finally, the author introduces a few themes including war, change, and …show more content…
These first few lines regarding Gene’s first reaction, introduces the reader to the predominant setting of the book, Devon, and implies how Gene must have a deep history filled with some sort of conflict that can be traced back to Devon. The phrases “oddly newer”,“more sedate”, and even how the school was generally straighter and shinier, suggest how when Gene was at Devon, the pace and mood of the school was much different than it seemed to be …show more content…
A few including the literal, World War II, and also the rivalry between Gene and Finny, and Gene’s inner-war with identity and feelings towards Finny. When Gene says “the varnish, along with everything else, had gone to war.”, he is foreshadowing the significant changes that happened in his