Preview

A Separate Peace Literary Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
382 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Separate Peace Literary Analysis
A Struggle for Innocence

Through out the novel, A Separate Peace, by Jonathan Knowles, a conflict between innocence and guilt is revealed. Gene Forrest, the narrator of the story returns to his school Devon, thirty years later to face the haunting memories of a past love-hate relationship. Though many people would argue the fact that Gene's character was not redeemed by the end of the novel, I on the other hand personally hold the opinion that Gene's character was.
When you die to your self, you are dying to your own desires and your own will, and giving that up whether it is for a friend, or for a god. "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    CHAPTERS 1-5: • Narrator introduces himself as a detective and claims he craves truth but lies • Manipulates his suspects into giving in and giving him the confession he wants • His name is Adam Robert Ryan • He grew up Knocknaree, Ireland • Book opens and it is 1984 • His best friends were Peter Savage and Jamie Rowan • Went into the woods to play but did not return in time for tea and as the night dragged on their parents grew worried and finally called the police • Adam Ryan was the only one who was found: 4 gashes in his shirt, legs all cut up, shoes soaked in blood, petrified and in shock • No DNA testing in Ireland at the time but blood is believed to be from a 4th person • Jamie and Peter are never found • Adam moves to London for boarding…

    • 2936 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of chapter 11, Gene and Phinehas’s relationship look to be at its maximum potential. Finny is playing with people in a snowball fight, and Gene initially doesn’t want to play but Phineas persuades him to. They show their closeness by their ability to persuade each other to do things they wouldn’t, in their right mind, doing the first place. Gene expresses his concern when he asks Phineas if he should be playing in the first place. Later when Brinker comes to their room, he mentions the war and asks about Leper.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gene Forrester is the main character in the deeply moving novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The book starts out with Gene as an adult looking back at his time spent as a teenager at Devon. Gene is a really smart, un-athletic kid who is best friends with a kid named Finny who seems to get away with everything. Gene is the smart kid, and Finny is the athletic kid that everyone loves including the teachers. Throughout the novel Gene looks back to the tree where he shook Finny off and he broke his leg. If Finny were to narrate this story it would be from a sense anger and confusion, not a sense of guilt and shame like Gene.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most asked questions for A Separate Peace is: who exactly is the protagonist and antagonist? Most would agree that Gene is the protagonist, however is it Gene or Phineas that is the enemy? I believe that the real ‘bad guy’ in this book is Gene. He envied Phineas from the very beginning but didn’t admit it until a little later on. Whether it was getting away from trouble, having a natural athletic ability, or simply being modest and humble about things, Phineas seemed to have been better at almost everything.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Separate Peace is written from the point of view of Gene Forrester who attends a school in New Hampshire during WWII, but the tale is told as merely as story told 10 years after the event thus allowing the narrator to make critical comments about his 16-year-old self-such as “-How can you accuse me of accusing you of that!’ As I said, this was my sarcastic summer.” (Knowles, 29). The way the narrator seamlessly slips in and out of the story making such remarks allows us to remember that the story-teller is more involved in the story than the reader but less involved than that of a present tense narrator who feels every emotion and says every word with seemingly little shame, while telling the story from a more mature…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A quote from Shakespeare says, “Suspicion always haunts the guilty.” Shakespeare’s quote perfectly exemplifies the position Gene Forrester finds himself in chapter seven of the book A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Gene is accused both in public and private, by Brinker Hadley, of arranging the accident that Finny had just so he could room alone. Although Brinker only meant this as a joke, he was surprised at Gene’s unusual defensive response. Gene starts to realize, after he laughs at the joke uneasily, that his bottled up guilt is changing him and making him look suspicious.…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday there is somebody fighting a war, be it with themselves or with outside forces. Wars can be started over even the smallest things such a jealousy or huge things like the pursuit of freedom. In a Separate Peace by John Knowles, we are shown a theme of war and rivalry. The theme is shown throughout the story in many ways, such as; Lepers was with himself over his insecurities and fears, Finny and Genes constant competition, Genes internal war with his actions, and Brinker Hadley’s internal war that creates the hostility that he pushes onto everyone else.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester returns to Devon School. While he is there, he remembers all the good memories and adventures that he had with his best friend Phineas while WWII took place. As a quick and irrational action, Gene jolts the limb of the tree they were on causing Finny to fall to the end of his athletic career and all hopes of making it to the Olympics are shattered. Gene, wallowing in guilt, agrees to fill in for Finny and Gene begins to train for the Olympics. Although Gene and Finny were getting along, Brinker forced Finny to accept the fact that Gene had jostled the limb on purpose ruining the friendship bond between Finny and Gene.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Gene Forrester reflects back on his life at the Devon School in New Hampshire, he realizes that all of the events, from the first time he meets Phineas to the funeral he attends for his dear friend, make him who he is. Gene faces numerous challenges throughout his years at the boarding school, including making new friends, getting good grades, enlisting in World War II, and finally having to experience the death of Phineas. In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, it is only after dealing with the enemy inside that Gene finally evolves from the insecure teenage boy at the beginning of the novel to a confident and independent man at its end.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles depicts a character-versus-self conflict through Gene Forrester’s, the protagonist, progressively worsening insecurities and a major epiphany. During his time at the Devon Boarding School, Gene shares a dormitory with his best friend Phineas, Finny. However, Gene’s jealousy of Finny’s natural athletic ability and leadership qualities causes him to create an internal conflict due to his low self esteem. His covetousness of Finny flourishes to the point that he must rationalize why he begrudges Finny to the extent he does; he reasons that the rivalry he concocts is mutual. Gene continues with this mindset that Finny is equally envious of his own intelligence until the evening when Leper states…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "A Separate Peace" takes place during World War II in 1943, a time of great uncertainty and changing lifestyles but the danger of this war never really seems to come near Devon. So does this terrible environment and events affect the characters of a Separate Peace or just provide a safe and surreal environment for the characters? The war in a Separate Peace may not directly affect the characters for the majority of the novel but we see its affects on the characters actions indirectly and it ends up greatly affecting the final outcome of the novel. The war also changes the characteristics and attitudes of certain characters of the novel, causing them to adapt and change to create a sort of defense against the impending threat of enlistment in…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism started as a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 1800s. Within a century, symbolism will become a big influence on European and American literature. In the novel A Separate Peace, two rivers that are described are the Devon and the Naguamsett. The Devon river was filled with fresh water, flowed past hills, highland farms, and forests, passed the school grounds, then went over a little waterfall into the Neguamsett. The Naguamsett River was ugly, saline, fringed with marsh and seaweed, and its course ended in the ocean. These rivers and the relationship between the two have many important symbolic meaning in the novel. One interpretation of the rivers is Gene as…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Phineas, develop an indestructible relationship. Throughout the course of the novel this relationship undergoes alteration from sincerity to betrayal. At first, Gene is envious of Phineas because of Phineas’s self-confidence. After the incident at the tree, their relationship changes into a codependent one. Gene and Phineas develop a connection during a time of war, and with mutual support, motivate each other to live normal lives. Ultimately, because this friendship kills Phineas, their companionship is a more destructive and negative one.…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    To most people a dream is just a part of the imagination, of course it would be ideal for it to come true, but the average person can see the difference from a dream to reality. The average person knows not to trust people blindly, knows to do what is best for them, they understand that occasionally one must put their dreams aside for it will not work with the world around them, they understand how to adjust their dream to reality. Of course this is just the average person. The characters Finny and Neil are both dreamers and idealists and were therefore destined to die for they could not live in a world where dreams are only dreams and reality includes hate, jealousy and practicalists. Finny was unable to live a life where his best friend hated him. Neil was in able of living a life in military school. Both could only live the dream.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Missing Peace Summary

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the story “ The Missing Peace” Lamort is an uneducated person and doesn’t care too much about her own self. Her post has influenced her present because Lamort’s birth was what caused her mother's death. Lamort’s grandmother blames her for her mother’s death and is never satisfied by her behavior. Since Lamort didn’t have a mother, she really wanted approval from her grandmother. She tries to please her grandmother by living up to her standards and priorities and wished she could be more experienced and intelligent .…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays