to spend, because there isn’t
             very much to buy. . .The war will always be fought very far away from America and it will
             never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people, who are
             always either leaving or on leave. (32)
             This is what Gene stands for in the story of A Separate Peace. Gene appears to
             omnisciently understand the reality of war and how it effects people. Throughout the
             entire story Gene is used to bring in the destructive reality of war into the everyday life at
             Devon High School where there is an attempt to create, and exist in, a separate peace.
             There is however quite an opposition to this reality-known by Gene-that is headed
             by Gene’s best friend Finny. Finny has his own “reality.” Finny displays this reality
             throughout the whole book just as Gene acts throughout the whole book. From the
             perspective of the narrator, Gene, Finny’s world is one where there are a lot of things that
             Finny does to try and substitute for the real war. This world or “reality” that Finny creates
             and exists in is the separate peace spoken of earlier.
             Finny first begins to create this separate peace with games. Because Finny can’t
             face the reality of the real war these games are representative of the war. Finny makes the
             rules so that he can exist in these games as a force that is indomitable. The first game
             Finny invents is “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session.” This game consists
             of jumping of the limb of a tree into the river by Devon High School. As the game is
             invented both Finny and Gene agree to get it started they must jump out of the tree and in
             to the river first. Finny allows Gene to jump first. This is where there is a foreshadow of
             We were standing on a limb, I a little farther out than Finny. I turned to say
             something else, some stalling remark, something to delay even a few second...