A Separate Peace

How can anyone really tell the difference between a friend and an enemy? John Knowles wrote a unique book on how friends can become some of the biggest enemies. A Separate Peace’s main characters, Gene and Finny become friends after Gene starts attending Devon. They go through trials in their friendship, one of the trials happens when Gene jumps on the tree branch, by the lake at Devon, and Finny falls off, which breaks his leg, ruining his main love, sports, and his chances of going into the…

“Who so would be a man, must be a nonconformist.” In the novel A Separate Peace written by John Knowles brings us back in time to Devon School in New Hampshire. Gene Forrester is top student of his class at Devon school and cares about many things such as fitting in with his best friend Phineas. In the novel, Gene loses his best friend to his jealous actions and suddenly jealousy turns to hatred. The envy Gene has for his friend and roommate Finny shows up most of the time as possessiveness.…

A Separate Peace We all become both witnesses and victims of protagonists and antagonists, in our daily life. The most challenging part, is deciphering between them. When we fail to do that, we can fall into a dark hole of misery, and make preposterous decisions. In John Knowles A Separate Peace, Finny is the real antagonist, as he leads his friend, Gene down a troubled path; he emotionally scars Gene and forever changes the course of his own life. During World War II, personalities clash,…

In the novel “A Separate Peace” Gene is both the narrator and the protagonist. In this novel Gene tells the story from his perspective. Gene isn't a really nice person he doesn't have any really good qualities. He’s kind of crazy and he's very paranoid. He's also not a very good friend. At one point Gene admires Phineas who happens to be his roommate and self proclaimed best friend. Gene has to work hard for everything and one of the many reasons he's jealous of Finny is because he's great at…

A Separate Peace by John Knowles follows Gene, a junior at a boarding school, around the time of WWII, who meets a great friend, Phineas. But Gene has the desire to be like Finny. Jealousy gets in the way of their friendship. The feeling of envy becomes difficult when it’s mixed with love. The bond between Gene and Phineas is a weird one. Jealousy drives people to do the unthinkable. The envy Gene has for Finny turned into hate which causes big consequences. The predominant theme in this book is…

“A Separate Peace” by John Knowles takes place at Devon school during World War II. Narrated by Gene Forrester, readers are able to experience his emotions and thoughts of his life during the time spent at his boarding school. Human emotions and suspicions can cause people to make irrational decisions. Phineas is flawless, to Gene, and his perfection displeases Gene. When the boys at Devon School were having tea with four masters and their wives, Phineas was caught wearing the school tie as a…

American Novelist, John Knowles, in his book "A Separate Peace" describes the flashback of a friendship among two boys in rural New Hampshire. Phineas and Gene's bond becomes stronger through the course of the story as they spend more time together. As the story progresses, Gene becomes envious of Phineas' talents and his happiness. Because of this, Gene shakes the branch that him and Phineas perform their ritual on, and Phineas' leg snaps for the first time. When the novel comes to a close…

you think those actions are justified or ethical?In these chapters of A Separate Peace the literary technique was analepsis, or the repetition of a single word or phrase. I found the repetition of the word war, it was mentioned sixteen times in the first five pages of chapter nine. In the first two paragraphs Knowles alternates between the use of peace and war. An example being, “What deceived me was my own happiness; the peace is invisible, and the surrounding world confusion found no…

The setting of the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. The novel is set in New England at a boys boarding school within the early years of World War II. It’s exciting in the beginning. The beginning of the novel haws everyone jumping out of the tre, but as the story goes on there is a lot of anger and jealousy, The novel has many characters some of which are Gene, Finny, and Brinker. Gene is about 5’8.5”. He is our protagonist, the main man. He wants to be the top guy on campus, so Gene…

created laws and rules. Sometimes, their fears get the best of them; however. They become envious of each other and insecure about their own shortcomings. They sometimes make enemies of each other and wage war against them. John Knowles’s book, A Separate Peace, captures these themes of conflict. The novel effectively portrays the themes of insecurity, envy and war through the course of the story. envy, an ongoing theme throughout the story, is felt by the main character -throughout the story…