War and Peace

A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is a non-fiction novel about kids in New England during world war II. The book focusses on showcasing these kids’ childhood and the experiences they encounter together. The setting of the novel helps reveal the character of Finny, by showing him beat the school’s swimming record, by showing him and Gene jump off the tree limb, and even the war has an effect on Finny’s character. When Knowles tells the reader about how Finny beat the school’s swimming record…

The Peace Corps Many people may not know what the Peace Corps is but in this paper i’m going to tell you. The Peace Corps is a movement were U.S citizens go all around the world to help people in need. The volunteers are going all around the world to help build houses for the homeless, feed the hungry, help people get jobs,(ext). How did the Peace Corps get started? When the Peace Corps was made in the USA it was started by John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961. Some other people that helped come…

The novel A Separate Peace, written by John Kowles, follows the story of a high school student of Gene Forester. It begins as Gene is revisiting his old high school after graduating and he visits key spots in his life and tells his story along with the tragedies. He was attending Devon’s high school during the start of World War II. As he tells his story he coves over three major themes. The novel occurs in the same time as another novel, Night, which follows the story of a Jewish teenager. The…

A Separate Peace by John Knowles expresses biblical allusions and Greek mythology through most of the primary characters. The figures of Adam and Eve, Judas, Apollo, Pan, Phthonus, and Jesus are all strongly alluded to throughout the book within the characters of Gene, Finny, Leper and Brinker. This will be strongly demonstrated through the following comparisons of Greek myths and biblical stories and, the events that surround the characters of A Separate Peace. The story of Adam and Eve is…

A Separate Peace and Dead Poets Society Compare and Contrast In the book A Separate Peace and in the movie Dead Poets Society, there are some similarities and some differences. In the book and in the movie there are common characters, settings, and themes. But, there is also differences in them as well. The similarities for the book and the movie are they both have secret clubs, the character Charlie in the movie is like Finny in the book and the character Todd from the movie is like Gene in…

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…

The theme in the novel A Separate Peace written by John Knowles is that of identity versus codependency. The main characters, Finny and Gene, maintain a friendship that appears to be based on jealousy. Gene envies Finny’s free will spirit and in this, Gene fosters a savage, almost dark side. The novel explores and delves into the relationship of these two friends, where it is revealed to the reader that these boys do not wish to mature. They do not wish to grow up. It is in this adventure…

In Separate Peace the characters battle with their identity. Gene is one of the many characters that struggles to be himself, instead he tries to be other people. Given that Gene has a hard time with his identity, he tries to be someone he is 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…

In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowls, there are signs of jealousy and naiveté that causes problems for the two main characters. Despite the fact Finny is too naive to realize how his best friend, Gene, is jealous of him it then “destroys” him. When all he is trying to do is forget about the dreadful war and stay youthful, which isn’t so easy to do. One of the main issues is Phineas is so energetic and cheery he doesn’t realize what Gene’s jealousy is doing to him. He keeps on going on…

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, perception versus reality is a recurring conflict for Gene, Leper and Finny in the novel. Perception is defined as “an interpretation or impression of something or an opinion or belief” while reality is defined as “the quality or state of being actual, true and unchangeable.” In the novel, the characters don’t understand each other which cause their perceptions of each other to be inaccurate. Despite their friendship, Gene and Finny don’t know the true…