John Knowles

"Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even death by violence" (Knowles 14). Gene revisits his campus fifteen years after he graduated, as it holds a deeper meaning to himself. Gene's guilt doesn't bear heavily on top of his shoulders anymore because he accepted his fault. Killing one's innocence allows a person to be more mature and at peace, rather than suffering from lingering emotions that happened over a decade ago. Innocence doesn't endure throughout life rather it is eradicated…

In John Knowles’s A Separate Peace, the author focuses on the painful and sometimes difficult transition to adulthood in an adolescent character named Gene Forrester. Gene has a nonconformist friend called Phineas, or Finny, who is extremely physically talented, but does not do well in school. Gene, on the other hand, is very conventional, does well in school, and always follows the rules. He becomes intensely jealous of Finny’s athletic talent and makes him fall out of a tree and shatter his…

not: Gene tries to be Finny. Finny can be described as athletic, outgoing, and a risk taker, all things that Gene does not possess. Although Gene is far from Finny’s qualities he tries to duplicate them. Gene said “I decided to put on his clothes (Knowles 29).” When Gene puts on Finny’s clothes it starts his obsession of being Finny. He continued to match everything Finny does and would do, for example Finny told Gene that he wanted to one day become an olympic athlete until he broke his leg.…

A Separate Peace, author John Knowles shows the inescapable consequences and effects the microcosmic war at Devon School has on the students. Gene Forrester becomes hostile and paranoid as he struggles to identify himself, Brinker Hadley also becomes hostile, but for reasons that are unidentified in the novel. Phineas is physically affected due to Gene’s jealousy, while Leper Lepellier is mentally affected from enlisting in World War II. Through these characters, Knowles describes man’s…

In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, Gene feels as if the world has been lifted off his shoulders when he finds out that Finny has come back. Gene feels less guilty about what had happened to him now that he is back and is able to see that Finny is alright. They do avoid talking about what had happened. Gene helps him out with little things such as making his bed but tries to not overwhelm his as much since he does not want him to feel helpless. Gene is now constantly worrying about…

Loss of Innocence Loss of innocence is an inevitable part of growing up. However, in A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene is exposed to the outside world and realizes humanity’s capabilities before other boys his age. Although, the Devon School shelters the boys from the war and preserves their innocence, Gene is exposed to the outside world and the war going on. This causes Gene to realize the evil of man in society and himself. Gene’s experiences at Devon represent a loss of innocence as…

In this book A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the personalities of the characters Gene and Phineas are greatly changed throughout the story.For a friendship to be “true” there must be shared loyalty,respect,trust, and honesty or it will ultimately fall apart.Gene and Phineas in this book develop traits such as honesty and trust but that is ruined by Gene purposely making Phineas fall out of the tree. Gene was worried that Phineas was to much competition for him to deal with. He was so paranoid…

“I always try to make the setting fit the story I have in mind.” - Author Tony Hillerman. A Separate Peace by John Knowles is about a group of boys at an all boys boarding school called Devon during WWII and their hardships as their easy going summer session ways change into the winter war-stricken ways. The setting of the book influences many of the boys to behave differently than they would if there was no war going on. The setting is a major factor in what kind of a person someone becomes,…

Who was Responsible for the Death of Finny Imagine having a best friend who’s life and future was ruined because of you. This is similar to what happened to Gene and Finny in, “A Separate Peace,” by John Knowles, but others were also involved. Finny’s life, in fact, was lost during an accident in this novel when he fell down stairs. The incident can be traced back when the super suicide society would jump off the tree limb over the summer. This tragic accident can be blamed on Gene since he…

Jealousy is selfishness and ignorance that can cause conflict and even the end of a friendship. The realistic fiction novel, A Separate Peace, is written by John Knowles. This novel revolves around the friendship of two young boys, Gene Forrester and Phineas who go to the Devon School in England during World War II. The boys enlisted in this school in hope of one day going into the army. Gene and Finny who were roommates had grown to be inseparable, but as they began to grow up, their…