In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, water greatly changes the main character of the story, Gene. Although a very commonly used force of change, water is shown in many different ways such as rivers and snow. In Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he describes snow as “clean, stark… playful, suffocating, filthy” (80). Foster writes this in order to present the reader with many different effects snow can have on someone or something. For example, in A Separate Peace, snow is used to represent the coming effect World War II will have on the Devon boys. Because of its earl arrival, readers can predict that the war will impact Gene much sooner than he expects it. Once again in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes the change in a character who nearly drowns as, “his old identity dies” (155). Foster describes this change as “baptism.” This example introduces the reader to Foster’s idea of literary rebirth through water, killing a character’s old identity and creating a new one. In A Separate Peace, Gene gets into a fight with the captain of his rowing team, Quackenbush. During their fight, they both fall into the Naguamsett River. Once our main character emerges, he develops qualities of bravery previously unimaginable. In a sense, he is reborn. The observation of these changes will show any reader a change has occurred. By observing these changes, we can conclude that water, in whatever form it may take, has the ability to change a
