Preview

A Separate Piece Character Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
413 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Separate Piece Character Analysis
In the book A Separate Piece by John Knowles, A group of teenage boys attend a selective boarding school in New Hampshire called Devon. Throughout the novel, the characters experience the prominent effects of World War II. From rotten apples to the disappearance of maids, the lives of boys at Devon were changing rapidly. Also, because most of the characters were on their way to turning 18, they are faced with the decision of whether to enlist or wait to be drafted. As the war progressed, characters in the book went through many changes. Finny experiences characterization as a response to the war environment around him. “I’ll hate it everywhere if I’m not in this war! Why do you think I kept saying there wasn't any war all winter?” (190)

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Knowles illustrates that war is inescapable through the use of characterization. For example, on page 104, “I pulled that off revealing an army fatigue shirt my brother had given me. ‘Very topical’ said Phineas through his teeth.” This reveals Phineas as a jealous and protective character because of his reaction of the possibility that his friend may leave him for war. This also makes Finny more of a realist than of when he first believed that the…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    People say that Canada lacks a unique identity, but Strange Brew took this opinion as a challenge with its extreme, satirical exaggeration of the stereotypical Canadian. Everything from the language to clothing is a Canadian exaggeration. The plot takes a Canadian pastime, beer, and revolves the story around it. What this really shows is the true identifier for Canadians, the ability to be at the butt end of our own joke. From the toque to the skates and all the Canadian stereotypes in between, scratch Strange Brew and it bleeds red and white.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this nonfiction book based in the years of World War 2, the tragedy that happened to Finny during a summer at Devon set the topic for the story about the novel. During a summer at Devon Finny’s best friend, Gene, who is thoughtful and intelligent and had also developed a love-hate relationship with Finny, made a decision that would end in the death of Finny. They day when Leper, Gene, and Finny were all jumping off a tree at the Devon River there was a serious accident. When Gene and Finny were on a branch in the tree Gene spasmodically decided to shake the branch in order for Finny for all off, although Gene would never admit this to be true. Finny broken his leg and was practically crippled. This “accident” came to be the main aspect of A Separate Peace. Directly after the accident Brinker was interested in what actually happened that day at the river since it was accepted that Finny just fell off. One day when Gene was alone in his form room Brinker and his friends forced Gene down to the butt room, a room where smoking was allowed. Brinker further investigated that day during the summer by interrogating Gene. Gene felt uncomfortable so he fled. As he returned to his room he saw a very familiar face, it belonged to Finny. Finny had returned from resting at his house after the accident. Life went on and Finny continued to be the leader he was born to be, he instigated a snow ball war and school carnival. Towards the end of the boys’ final year in high school, Brinker gathered all the seniors in order to find the truth of that summer day. Slowly but surely Finny began to remember more and more of that day. What finally set him off to realize what Gene did was the return of Leper. Leper enlisted and went out to the war but began seeing things so people thought he was delusional,…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Deceit I also enjoyed Goody Cloyse's character. Goody Cloyse character is based on an actual woman (Sarah Cloyce), who was tried and convicted of witchcraft during the historical Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Her character proves that people hide their real identities. Goody is a Christian woman who assists young people study the Bible, but in secret she performs magic rituals and joins witch conventions in the forest.…

    • 68 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, Phineas’ innocence is so pure that he creates a separate peace to avoid confrontation with the destruction of the war he is too oblivious to know he is fighting. His refusal to believe in the war shows his naïve childlike side. Finny only believes in the…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although it is very apparent that there is a war being fought, Finny continues to hide from the reality and doubts the existence of the war. The reason for this was because of the fact that he could not participate in it and he is therefore denying its existence. In the book, Brinker approaches Gene and questions him about the fact that he has not made any steps towards enlisting and says that Gene isn't joining the war because he pitied Finny, who could jot join because of his hurt leg.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    <br>Although it starts after half the book is finished, one of the major examples of denying the truth in the novel is Finny denying the reality of the war. Though it is disclosed at the end that Finny knew all along about the war, he succeeds, after a little time, in making Gene truly believe in the non-existence of the war (although Gene claims that he did not really believe the story, his behavior around his classmates and his actions say otherwise). The first result we see of this denial is Finny's confession of his bitterness towards the world because of his loss. This destroys the image we have of Finny as a "perfect" person because it shows that he blames the world for his accident. It also stuns Gene so much that he begins to do pull-ups, even though he has never done even ten before. With Finny's verbal help, Gene manages to do thirty. This solidifies the friendship between them. After this…

    • 2098 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This effect of the war can be quiet clearly seen with Phineas who, disappointed at not being accepted into any army, decides to adopt a view in which he does not accept that the war exists when talking to anybody else. Indeed we see this when he is in the infirmary and tells Gene "Why do you think I kept saying there wasn 't any war all winter? I was going to keep saying it until two seconds after I got a letter from Ottawa or Chungking or some place saying 'Yes, you can enlist with us ' "(190). This shows that Phineas is pretending that there exists no war because of his disappointment in the rejection of his application. The change in interaction with others due to the war is also seen with Leper who is more hostile towards others after his experience in the army where before he was much more quiet and friendly. The change in attitudes towards others due to the war is also seen with Brinker who begins to resent his dad for his ideas towards war. This resentment is seen where Gene says "He did know his father, however, and so they were not getting along well now." (201). This is in reference to Brinker 's complaint that his father 's generation had caused the war and their generation had to fight it and we see that this war is a major reason for why Brinker resents his father. As it can be seen, the war is a definite factor in the way that the characters in the novel interact with each other and the war affects these interactions and relationships in adverse…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Finny's outlook on the whole situation is very grown up. He did not blame anyone but himself, even though it was not his fault at all. Finny seems as though he will never grow up because he is so immature, with his silly denial of the war's existence, and his habit of always coming up with strange things to do just for fun. Inside he is suffering with the anger and hurt of being excluded from the one thing that he wants to do most, fight in the war. This is an excellent example of how the war suddenly made the boys grow up into men. They had to face adulthood, and in order to do that, they had to become adults.…

    • 2027 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator in, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” suffers from depression, although her husband, who is a doctor, does not consider it an illness. Therefore, he keeps her on a strict rest cure. She is not allowed to do work of any form, not even care for her baby. All she allowed to do is rest in her room and breath in the air as prescribed by her husband. Because she spends most of her time in her room, she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in the room and it drives her to insanity. The lack of creative stimulation and relationships with others causes the narrator’s obsession with the yellow wallpaper which leads her to believe she is trapped behind bars in this yellow wallpaper.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A separate peace study guide

    • 4334 Words
    • 13 Pages

    The significance of Finny’s name is that it’s traces back to Phineas from Greek mythology, who is a blind man, and the significance of the meaning is that Finny is too blind to see that Gene envy’s him.…

    • 4334 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Schooled by Gordan Korman, Capricorn Anderson’s life has changed for the better. Have you ever heard of a thirteen year old who got arrested two times in less than two months for doing a silly thing like driving, and being underage while doing it? Cap Anderson is a flower child, who lives in Garland Farms with his sixty-seven year old grandmother, Rain, who educates him until she has an accident. Cap is different from other characters because Cap comes from Garland which is a whole different world. In Garland, there is no money, no television and different hobbies from the “real” world. Cap would have never thought he would interact with the world outside of Garland and enjoy it!…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Seperate Peace

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The novel A Separate Peace takes place at an all-boys Private school called Devon during World War II and a conflict appears between two best friends; Gene and Finny.…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Writers provide glimpses of other worlds giving readers opportunities to reflect on their own world”. To what extended do you agree.…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mr. Gabriel John Utterson is one of the major characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. He witnessed many exhilarating events through the story, yet he has a very dull and odd personality. As it states on the very first page of the novel, “…that was never lighted by a smile,” reflects this notion. Utterson is like that throughout the entire novel. Also on the first page it says that Utterson is “lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable” which again shows how he is a very strange man. His lovability could come from his only remarkable quality that Stevenson gives him, which is loyalty. For example, he is willing to stay friends with someone whose reputation has been ruined. This is what leads him to investigate the situation of Dr. Jekyll.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays