A Separate Peace Theme Essay

War, win or lose there will always be death. Death is one of the most devastating thing to happen in ones life and to others, sometimes hurting others more than himself. When you think of war you visualize guns, bombs, blood sweat and tears but not all wars are fought violently and that is the story of A Separate Peace. The main theme of the story follows warfare as it is taken place during WWII in an all boys school, Devon, of New Hampshire, U.S.A. It is based around two best friends and roommates, Phineas (AKA “Finny”) and Gene, find their relationship crumbling down and battle to keep it alive. This essay demonstrates how three literary elements support the major theme of warfare. The first literary element is character; some may consider …show more content…
WWII was one of, in not the, the greatest, hard fought, bloody war ever to occur. AS we know it was a back and forth affair between the axis and allied powers. Like this war its setting in relation to the story symbolizes Phineas and Gene. The relationship between the two friends is symbolic to a war as their relationship was like a battle but. When Gene went to visit Phineas after he broke his leg towards the end of their interaction Gene is filled with guilt for what he did but was interrupted. In this scene Gene told Phineas “I don’t care who I sound like, and you won’t think so when I tell you. This is the worst thing in the world, and I’m sorry and hate to tell you but I’ve got to tell you.” Gene did not tell Phineas his involvement in the cause of Finny’s accident because he was interrupted by the doctor and told Gene to leave. This he shows how Gene cared for Phineas as he was about to tell Phineas he made him fall as he was filled with guilt. The theme of warfare is not only PvP between Finny and Gene yet Gene fights his own battles against his own fear and identity. Gene experiences person Vs self when Phineas dies from breaking his leg a second time from falling down stairs. He died from the bone marrow entering his bloodstream and stopping his heart. Gene realizes how the feeling of losing his friend and this symbolizes war because although there are winners and losers in a battle there are always losses for both sides as death is always a loss. Gene makes his remarks about Finny’s death by saying “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family’s straight-laced burial ground… I could not escape the feeling that this was my own funeral.” This quote reveals that Gene although being jealous of Finny still cared for him and has had a part of him die as he lost a friend due to his own guilt. The storyline