A Separate Peace Theme

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According to HG Wells, “If we don't end war, war will end us” (Things to Come). In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the main character Gene struggles with the wars around him. Gene struggles at Devon, an all boys preparatory school during the World War II era. At Devon, Gene faces the struggle of finding peace and many conflicts throughout the story along with the other boys, Brinker Hadley a natural born leader, Phineas his sporty best friend, and Quackenbush a dislikeable crew team captain. Like Gene these boys are also affected by similar issues which they must deal with. Gene faces many wars like his sexuality, jealousy, guilt, and his friends which he must overcome to find his separate peace.
Gene goes to war with his sexulaity because he is unsure of his orientation. Gene goes to the beach with Phineas when Phineas shares his feelings for him. Gene layed on the beach next to Phineas while he shied away from telling his true feelings, “Perhaps I was stopped by the level of feelings, deeper than thought, which contains the truth” (48). Gene knows he has strong feelings for Phineas even if he doesn’t admit to them. Once Gene decides to open up he can embrace himself and not have to hide who he is which will
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When Gene goes to his job, assistant crew manager, he is called maimed by Quackenbush and they fight. In the crew room Gene is taken aback by Quackenbush's comment and fights him, “You, Quackenbush, don't know anything about who I am” (79). Gene feels self conscious compared to Quackenbush and his high position in crew which is why he lashes back. Gene needs to accept that he isn’t athletic like Quackenbush and is more school oriented. Once he does this he can fully immerse himself in academics and not worry about his sporting life which will make him feel empowered by himself at school. Therefore once he gets over his self consciousness he can peace with

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