John Phillips

As with many novels, there are an extensive amount of ways that one could interpret the story A Separate Peace by John Knowles. In Gene Forrester's narration, his actions and thoughts, as well as his reflection of those times in his past, portray multiple meanings that are underlying in the plot. From the past to the present, it can be seen how Gene has changed, grown separate from who he was back then. There are also the many examples of good and especially evil which are seen throughout. The…

What side, emotions or actions? The book A Separate Peace by well known Yale graduate John Knowles is about two boys, Gene and Finny, and their life outside the war at a boarding school called Devon. The boys are best friends also loosely based of of John Knowles experience at a boarding school, and an accident happens in which Finny's fall from the tree and Gene's fall from innocence can be traced to unresolved tensions. Tensions created by the mixed feeling of envy and admiration in which Gene…

A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, is a creative fiction that has viewers thinking outside the box and suspenseful feelings about what going to happen next. A Separate Peace is about Gene, the main character, coming of age and identifying who he is with the help of his friend, Phineas (Finny). Before he matures and identity who he is, he goes through this stage of depending on Finny to help him find himself. Not only does Gene depend on Finny, but Finny start depending on Gene after he…

“Envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide” (Emerson 370). A Separate Peace written by John Knowles is set in a boarding school, Devon, in New England. Gene, about five-feet nine inches, weighing about 150 pounds, was a student at Devon school and was very gullible to others. In A Separate Peace, Gene has envy of Finny and imitates him which affects him and their relationship, but in the end he gains his inner peace. To begin with, Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him throughout…

meaningful world around me.¨ (Knowles 186) In a book the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles two boys Gene and Finny are supposed best friends, but there is a rivalry that lies between them. As the book goes on Gene expresses his feelings of identity and jealousy within himself and towards Finny. The book setting is right at the beginning of WWII. Along with the physical war taking place, there is a war between these two boys. John Knowles uses universal themes such as identity and friendship…

The ability to sustain relationships and adapt to society often depends on a person’s perspective, personality, and motivations. In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the main characters are Gene Forester and Phineas. Knowles portrays Finny as the light to Gene’s dark side, the yin to his yang. Knowles creation of characters with opposing personalities helps to further develop the novel. The most prominent character in A Separate Peace is Gene Forrester. In the novel, Gene is grown up…

Throughout A Separate Peace, Knowles uses juxtaposition to develop the characters of Gene and Phineas, also known as Finny. They are always with each other, and Gene even juxtaposes himself against Finny multiple times in the book. Consequently, these contrasts between them help establish their character; who they really are. One example of juxtaposition would be how Gene and Finny performed in school. Each of the boys had something they excelled at. For Finny, it was athletics; for Gene is…

“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” (Maya Angelou) The story A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a coming-of-age story that outlines the summer adventures of the jealous, intelligent Gene and his athletic best friend Finny at Devon School in New Hampshire. Regardless of their close relationship, Gene still harbors some resentful feelings towards Finny which get worse when Gene assumes Finny is trying to keep him distracted from his schoolwork, and…

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide…”proclaimed Emerson (370-372). John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, takes place at Devon School of New Hampshire, 1942-1943. The narrator Gene is a conformist who questions his personal identity, which becomes lost in the envy of is best friend, Phineas. The mixed feelings of admiration and jealousy toward Finny are portrayed in the book. The novel, A Separate Peace,…

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is a fictional novel about a boy named Gene Forrester and his life at the Devon Private School, during the early 1940’s. Gene faces many challenges and hardships throughout the book, one being the war. The war ends up taking over life at Devon, starting with the boys picking apples for the war effort, then Leper Lepellier enlisting, and eventually the troops moving in, and dominating life at Devon. The war slowly starts influencing life at Devon, starting with…