Phillip Crosby

A Separate Peace written by John Knowles focuses on the story of the friendship of Gene Forrester and Phineas “Finny”, and emphasizes how their constant friendship/rivalry causes a feeling of envy leading to an ultimately hurtful relationship. In Chapter 2, readers see yet another example of how quickly Finny can get out of almost any situation due to his charismatic demeanor. When he talks his way out of getting in trouble for skipping dinner with Mr. Prud’homme, this can be seen as the moment…

The Wrath of Jealousy Oftentimes close friends can turn into foes through the aspect of jealousy between the two, and ultimately resulting in a tragic death of the friendship. In A Separate Peace By John Knowles there is a lot of jealousy between one character, Gene. Gene is jealous of Finny in ways that hurt their relationship. Both kids enjoy going to the tree in Devon school, where Gene is driven by his jealousy and hurts his friend. Gene walks to school for the first time after summer break…

In the Literary Criticism “Counterpoint”, by James M. Mellard, the critic analyzes the juxtaposition between components in the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Mellard strongly suggests to his readers how Knowles uses “counterpoint in character development, symbolism, plot and structure” (Mellard 56), which brings forth the ultimate question of how does counterpoint support A Separate Peace’s “ultimate theme” (56). The fundamental answer to this proposed question, in the eyes of…

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…

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…

Set during the infamous World War II, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, unfolds into a story of a growing rivalry between two close friends. English Devon High School students, Gene Forrester and Phineas, are the best of friends, with the perfect balance of athletics and academics. However, Gene’s enmity towards Phineas drives him to have the ideal image of competing to become the top student at Devon. However, ultimately, when the two friends decide to jump off of a limb and into a river, Gene…

The book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is a fiction book based at a New England private boarding school for high school boys in the year of 1942. This book covers the up and down roller coaster of a relationship between Phineas, also known as Finny, and his best friend Gene. The two boys became best friends after one day in the summer session when they jumped out of a tree used to train boys for their physical expectations of the military. World War II has begun and all of America has felt…

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…

“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist” (Emerson 370). A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles during the World War II at Devin school, 1942. Gene a, 5’8 sixteen year old, returns to his childhood school for peace. Also as the narrator, Gene struggles with internal emotions toward his friend and identifying who he truly is. A Separate Peace demonstrates how Gene envy and imitation affect himself and his relationship with Finny; Gene finds peace. Gene’s envy and…

The Meaning of A Separate Peace A Separate Peace by John Knowles has a significant meaning in the title. In the book two main characters Gene and Phineas (Finny) struggle to find peace while living at Devon; a prep school and in the time of World War Two. Gene and Finny struggle through many conflicts and find ways to overcome them. A Separate Peace is used as the title because of the way the characters find peace in their own lives, deal with conflicts, and to become comfortable with themselves…