Love
As with most novels, it is best to begin a discussion of thematic by examining the title. The phrase, "a separate peace," is mentioned once in the novel when, speaking of the Winter Carnival, Gene writes: "it was this liberation we had torn from the grey encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace" (118). The Devon of 1942 and 1943 is, at times, a haven of peace and forgetfulness for Gene and his classmates. And it is significant that it is termed a "separate peace" because it indicates that the peace achieved is not part of the surrounding reality, which, for Gene, is a world of conflict, a world at war. The joy that the older Gene remembers upon re-visiting Devon is due to such momentary periods of complete freedom achieved during the summer of 1942 and the following school year, moments when a sixteen year-old could live without conflict or rules, and forget about the The novel is about a young man's struggle to achieve and maintain such a separate peace. And although the setting is in an America in the midst of war, the focus of the
Gene's soul becomes a battleground where jealousy, fear, love, and hatred combat for control of his actions. He becomes a metaphor for the peace that is lost when Gene is too afraid to identify the enemy within himself. Indeed, Finny does not see the enemy at all. Phineas is the novel's greatest casualty. For though the two need each other and are often described by Gene as extensions of each other, the balance is unequal: Finny needs Gene as a companion and a friend, someone with whom to share in the challenges of growing up and facing the reality of adulthood; but Gene's need is a born out of jealousy, he covets Phineas for the harmony and confidence that he himself does not have. Gene, Brinker, and Leper all become casualties of this change by convincing them that the enemy, the cause of their fears, lies outside of themselves. And so rather than share in the friendship that Finny offers, Gene destroys the peace that he was unable to find in himself. For indeed, Finny's harmony is damaged after his fall from the tree. Because of Gene's own insecurity, a reciprocal and non-competitive friendship becomes impossible. Ultimately, this act of self-deception drives Gene to malicious thoughts and behavior, destroying any feelings of affection and friendship he might have once had for Finny. He embodies the peace that Gene tries to achieve his physical grace a reflection of the harmony within himself. Thus, Finny's fantastic assertion that World War II is an illusion maintains a certain truth in lights the real war that occurs in the story. The task, it seems, is too great even for Phineas, who dies because of the hatred and insecurity around him. Instead, his fears are projected onto his closest companion, Phineas, whom Gene suspects of possessing his own feelings of envy and self-loathing.
Common topics in this essay:
Carnival Gene,
Finny Gene,
Phineas Gene,
War II,
Indeed Finny,
Brinker Leper,
,
separate peace,
world war,
finny enemy,
World War,
world war ii,
war ii,
friendship finny,
own feelings,
phineas harmony,
finny gene,
person friend,
gene writes,
|
Acceptance Essays
