John Phillips

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…

During the events in a separate peace by john knowles two boys gene and finny have a silent rival genes intense feeling of aggressiveness strains his relationship with his best friend , finny up until finny's mischance gene feels the he reliably neglects to measure up to finny's athletic ability and appeal despite the fact the gene is really smart head for some reason needs what finny has -- and inspires himself to accomplish it it is a work of human instinct that individuals coldly drive ahead…

he Future is determined by one’s action in the present, So when given a chance to look at the future, people will want to come back to the present, and change their actions for a better future. In the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Scrooge, the main character, is a wicked and grumpy man to start with. As four ghost visits him, with the ghost of future as the most influential, Scrooge becomes a caring, joyful man. While the all the ghosts are important in the development of…

Thud! Gene looks down and sees a body just laying there with no move. Gene Forrester is the protagonist of the novel “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles and has some conflict just as he’s getting comfortable in his new school, Devon. Elwin (Leper) Lepellier is a minor character who is known as the social outcast of the school. Throughout the book, Gene and Phineas (Finny) become best friends and their friendship takes its toll on each of them. Due to the main conflict of the story, Gene’s…

In reality, how often will somebody encounter a situation where everything worked out exactly how they expected it to? In John Irving’s novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, the main character, Johnny Wheelwright, references a quote from Thomas Hardy that answers this question: “Nothing bears out in practice what it promises incipiently”. To put it another way, this quote implies that in actuality, things will not usually work out how someone might initially expect it to. The reader can see this motif…

Denial of Reality in a Separate Peace One large recurring theme in John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is the idea that refusing to confront reality causes people to suffer. With World War II as the backdrop for the novel, A Separate Peace pushes this ideology through a once innocent group of boys at a boarding school.In the novel, there are three dynmaic chracters: Gene Forrester, Elwin (Leper) Lepellier, and Phineas. Gene ends up accepting the realities of war, and grows and develops because of it…

important relation that people form in all of their lives. Young children’s tend to fulfill friendships with trust for the rest of their lives. But, sometimes even strong relation can end up like war, between two individual that might risk one’s life. John Knowles best known work “A Separate Peace” is one of the most popular youth and war novel. The novel focuses on two best friends Finny and Gene and their relationship during the time of World War II, a time of great hardships. Gene’s envy…

“ When you love something it loves you back in whatever way it has to love” (Knowles, pg. 111). The novel A Separate Peace focuses on the special bond between the two main characters, Gene and Phineas. Although these two have little in common, they stick together and often obsess over one another. This leads the reader to believe that there are ulterior motives in relation to their close friendship. The relationship between Gene and Phineas is one more than normal friendship because of the…

written pieces are very similar to people in this modern day life. Rivalries are extremely common when it comes to both fiction and nonfiction. To be more specific, a rivalry is another way of expressing competition. In A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, Gene and Finny show many examples of competition throughout their friendship during the book. Chapter 4 represents a time where their rivalry was at it's peak. A great example is featured on page 53 when Gene talks about having even…

A constant theme of a Separate Peace is the fall of friendship. The bond between the two main characters, Gene and Finny becomes tested when their friendship is attacked. Gene becomes challenged with various inner battles, while Finny, his athletic career revoked, has been forced to find acceptability and incitement elsewhere. Furthermore, the book commences in the midst of WWII. This effects everyday life for the boys, it includes stress and tension all around them. The intensities of war show…