“Everything has to evolve or else it perishes.” 
Denial, and acceptance, these words are intertwined with innocence, and the loss of said innocence. In order for one to mature one has to accept the truth and make necessary adjustments. The people who deny the truth don’t experience the “fall from innocence” and may be blind to the things going on around them. If the innocent chooses to accept the truth the characters “evolves” and falls from innocence. If a character chooses to deny the truth it will take a toll on the character mentally, or physically. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the archetype of the Fall from Innocence in order to illustrate Leper’s philosophy, “Everything has to evolve or else it perishes.” He demonstrates this theme through the characters of Leper, Finny, and Gene.
Gene is a character in the book who loses his innocence. Gene is smart young man attending attending Devon school. He is best friend’s with Finny. Gene is always competing with Finny, most of the time Finny doesn’t realize this. Finny is oblivious to many of the things going around him and is always happy. Finny’s attitude and the way he carries himself frustrate Gene. Finny is “perfect” and nothing ever seems to go wrong in Finny’s life. Gene becomes jealous of Finny and begins to resent Finny for trying to sabotage his academics. These feelings of jealousy eventually cause Gene to push Finny off the tree. Gene tries to preserve his innocence by attempting to convince himself that he was not responsible for the fall and that it must have mysteriously happened. The fall shattered Finny’s legs. Deep down Gene knew that he was responsible for Finny’s fall. This experience was traumatizing for Gene. Gene would have to deal with the fact that HE was responsible for Finny not being able to do anything he loved. Gene was responsible for Finny not being able to be in the Olympics, not being able to enlist, and causing Finny to eventually lose his innocence. Gene was directly responsible for his best friend’s problems and he
Gene is a character in the book who loses his innocence. Gene is smart young man attending attending Devon school. He is best friend’s with Finny. Gene is always competing with Finny, most of the time Finny doesn’t realize this. Finny is oblivious to many of the things going around him and is always happy. Finny’s attitude and the way he carries himself frustrate Gene. Finny is “perfect” and nothing ever seems to go wrong in Finny’s life. Gene becomes jealous of Finny and begins to resent Finny for trying to sabotage his academics. These feelings of jealousy eventually cause Gene to push Finny off the tree. Gene tries to preserve his innocence by attempting to convince himself that he was not responsible for the fall and that it must have mysteriously happened. The fall shattered Finny’s legs. Deep down Gene knew that he was responsible for Finny’s fall. This experience was traumatizing for Gene. Gene would have to deal with the fact that HE was responsible for Finny not being able to do anything he loved. Gene was responsible for Finny not being able to be in the Olympics, not being able to enlist, and causing Finny to eventually lose his innocence. Gene was directly responsible for his best friend’s problems and he