A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a coming of age novel in which Gene, the maincharacter, revisits his high school and his traumatic teen years. When Gene was ateen-ager his best friend and roommate Phineas (Finny) was the star athlete of the school. Gene was only a mediocre athlete and is always jealous of Finny. They form a SuperSuicide Society of the Summer Session which includes jumping from a tree into a river asits initiation. Eventually, Finny falls from the tree fracturing his leg. This leads toFinny's death and Gene struggle to find himself. The relationship between these twoboys proves my thesis statement; a friend and an enemy can be one in the same. The characters of Gene and Finny are as opposite as apples and oranges. Finny isa free spirit and Gene enjoys structure. The main problem though, is that Finny has"some kind of hold"(9) over Gene. The fact that Gene lets Finny talk him into
However, Gene can never accomplish this and he becomes very cynical at times. Its changes are bases mostly on Genesfeelings toward Finny. Symbolism is also very important to this novel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. This anger leads to Gene jouncing Finny out of the tree. Consequently Finny pretends that there is no warbecause he knows that he will never be able to participate. The fact that friends and enemies can be one in the same is very evident in this novel. He forms the idea that, "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck mystudies. Since academics are so important to Gene he begins to resent Finny and hefeels that he has to get revenge. The war is also a symbol of theirfriendship in the respect that they have problems seeing eye to eye. An example of this is the war; itsymbolizes several different things. Another example ofwar being a symbol in this story is when Finny fractures his leg and the doctors tell himhe will never be able to do sports again.
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