People become tragically alienated from societies for having strange opinions about life and for clenching on to their moral beliefs. In the tragedy "A Separate Peace" John Knowles explores this idea thoroughly through its modern tragic hero Phineas. Because of his personal belief of not having enemies, and ability to withstand things others can not handle, Phineas does not seem to fit in his violent society and thus can be considered a lonely alien. Phinny suspects that the rest of the society beholds the same mentality and tries to seek equality between people, which turns out to be his personal tragic flaw leading to his suffering and downfall. The tragedy that Phineas goes through allows him to appear as a modern tragic hero to the readers, leaving a deep impact inside. Phineas is considered a modern tragic hero for having four basic characteristics: sacrificing, being a victim of society, suffering from his flaw, and leaving a sense of triumph, which leave a deep meaningful impact on the reader.
             Sacrificing for the sake of a strong friendship, Phineas is seen as a modern tragic hero. In this novel Phineas mainly sacrifices for one reason, which is his precious friendship with Gene. The two develop a strong friendship and depends on one another, feeling like each holds the other half of their character. Therefore Phineas sacrifices by losing his dignity and trust in himself, and deliberately refusing to believe that Gene caused his accident on purpose:
             Of course you didn't do it. You fool. Sit down you damn fool... I'm
             going to hit you if you don't sit down... I'll kill you if you don't shut
             up... I don't know anything. Go away. I'm tired and you make me
             sick. Go away. (Knowles, 62)
             Phineas knows deep inside that Gene did it, but he can not comprehend the idea because he loves Gene too much and knows t...