Preview

A Seperate Peace (Symbolism)

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
270 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Seperate Peace (Symbolism)
A symbol is a person, place, or object that represents something beyond itself.

This is clearly shown in A Separate Peace by John Knowles.

One example of a symbol in the novel is when Finny wears a pink shirt and a tie as a belt. This symbolizes Finny's outlook on authority, how he has lack of respect for it and tests it. When Finny wears the pink shirt and the tie as a belt proves how Finny can get away with anything. The Headmaster for violating the dress code at the luncheon questions him. Finny manages to talk his way out of getting in trouble for being out of dress code. His excuse was his patriotism for the bombing in Central America.

Another example of symbolism is the two rivers, the Devon and the Naguamsett River. The Devon represents Finny and the Naguamsett River describes Gene. Both rivers are symbolisms of their personalities. The Devon River is described as fresh and pure. On the other hand, the Naguamsett River or is described as ugly, saline, and muddy with seaweed. Finny's personality is linked with the purity of the Devon River while Gene's is corroded like the Naguamsett River.

Gene plans to be assistant crew manager because he feels guilty for Finny's Accident. The significance of having a job as an assistant crew manager is that it is offered to physically disabled people. Gene is disabled, but emotionally not physically.

He feels it is his burdens for his actions that occurred on the tree.

These are only three of many symbols that have far more meaning than what is blatantly told in the novel A Separate

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, symbolism is used throughout the story especially in chapter 6. In Ch. 6, Finny, the main character of the novel is describing both of the rivers that are in the environs of the Devon School, the Nagumsett and the Devon River. These descriptions of the two rivers do not just expand our knowledge of the surrounding geography of the Dxevon School, but also symbolize the different stages of Gene and Finny’s lives.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, many settings reveal characters and events that had great importance in the book. The tree, the Assembly Room and the White Marble Staircase revealed Finny’s accident, and how the characters reacted. At the tree, Phineas is shaken from the tree and into the Devon River. Finny breaks his leg, creating the climax of the novel and a while after, Brinker hosts a trial to discover the truth about what really happened at the tree in the Assembly Room. During the trial Gene is revealed as a coward. He begins to make up lies to show that he didn’t push Finny out of the tree. He eventually starts to proclaim that he was standing at the bottom of the tree when Finny fell. When Brinker and the other young boy who had been questioning him came closer and closer to the truth, he began to come off very defensive to the audience; arguing with what they were accusing him of. As Brinker went on and on about what may or may not have happened, Phineas will not listen, and this portrays his character as very naïve. For example, Phineas seems to be blindsided by the friendship he and Gene share, and believes that Gene truly was at the bottom of the tree, and also that he just simply lost his balance. Further into the trial, Leper Lepellier is called into the Assembly Room and clarifies what really happened the day at the tree. The truth was, Gene was standing on the limb right next to Finny and jounced the limb, causing the fall. Hearing this news, Finny is completely dumbfounded. He leaves during the trial very quietly and when Gene calls out to him, he responds, “Never mind. I don’t care.” This concluded the trial. The Marble Staircase is also a very significant setting in the novel. After the trial, Finny stumbles down the marble stairs, re-breaking his leg, Finny soon after dies from bone marrow entering his blood streams. This setting and the event that took place here impact Gene immensely. “Then these separate sounds collided into the…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Separate Peace

    • 643 Words
    • 6 Pages

    32. Extra Credit: What is the name of the summer club that Finny and Gene invented?…

    • 643 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel A Separate Peace there are many symbols, however one of the most powerful is the burning of The Iliad. The burning of The Iliad, a famous tale of war, represents Finny's rejection of the war. Gene says, during the carnival Finny"drew me increasingly ...into a world inhabited by just himself and me, where there was no war at all." Finny is actively rejecting the war, he is removing it from every aspect of his life; he is trying to bring back the carefree summer session through the carnival, training for the Olympics instead of war, and purging every mention of the war from his life. He is desperately trying to create an environment of peace, Finny always found peace in sports; by burning the Iliad he is creating an absence of war,…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good 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

    Another of the principal themes in this novel is the theme of maturity. The two rivers that are part of the Devon School property symbolize how Gene and Finny grow up through the course of the novel. The Devon River is preferred by the students because it is above the dam and contains clean water. It is a symbol of childhood and innocence because it is safe and simple. It is preferred which shows how the boys choose to hold onto their youth instead of growing up. The Naguamsett is the disgustingly dirty river which symbolizes adulthood because of its complexity. The two rivers intermingle showing the boys' changes from immature individuals to slightly older and wiser men.…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Separate Peace

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles one of the main characters, Phineas experiences a loss of innocence. This loss of innocence relates to a bigger theme in the novel. This bigger theme is that you must mature and evolve or you will perish. Phineas also known as Finny is very childish and prioritizes play over work, he has trouble accepting that there is a war going on, and he denies major events such as Gene jouncing the limb. Innocence must be lost in order to mature and Finny has a brutal time doing so.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theme of A Separate peace is self-identity. Gene goes through the same identity crisis, but his crisis resolves not around war, but Finny. Gene's admiration for and jealousy of his friend is so great that he literally loses himself in Finny. At the time when Finny is injured, he feels that he doesn't exist. Gene's personal identity is so wrapped up in Finny that in order to become an individual with his own identity, he has to destroy Finny.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Separate Peace Theme

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gene was jealous of finny and he let his jealous cause finny’s injury. Gene was jealous that finny was considered popular at school and good at sports so he got angry and waited for finny to hurt him.”Holding firmly to the trunk,I took a step toward him,and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb.Finny,his balance gone,”(Knowles,p.28).When finny was turned around getting ready to jump off the tree,trusting gene to hold the branch.Gene made finny fall off of the tree.gene was jealous because finny could do great things and not have to work hard to do it,gene on the other hand had to work for everything…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Separate Peace

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Devon and Naguamsett rivers flow through campus giving the students a setting to get away from the reality of their school life. The students tend to gravitate towards the Devon river, but stray from the Naguamsett river. The rivers are complete opposites. The Devon river symbolizing innocence and the Naguamsett river symbolizing adulthood contrast through the consistency of the novel A Separate Peace.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Separate Peace

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Devon River and the Naguamsett River, two polar opposites, so filthy and so pristine; the Naguamsett symbolizing my old self with his head stuck in the mud and the Devon representing the gaining of my new insight.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Separate Peace

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Are you thankful for every day you have on earth? Well, you should be. In the First World War, one thousand six hundred and forty nine Canadian soldiers under the age of eighteen risked their lives, and three hundred and sixty five of these soldiers died for our freedom. In the novel, “A SEPARATE PEACE”, by John Knowles, The main character Gene undergoes various situations that are influenced by the war, including the incident of Gene jostling the branch causing Phineas to fall from the tree, the participation of contributing to the war, and the emotional impact on the loss of Genes best friend Phineas. As the war in Europe increases its impact on Devon, the author uses the characters to show that young boys are the most vulnerable. The war causes boys to grow out of their childlike selves and become men. The war turns boys into men because only a man can kill another other human, the war causes boys to work, which is a mans job, emotional stress from war causes boys to turn into men, and the war propaganda encourages boys to contribute to the war.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbols exist in the media all around us; in the books we read, the music we listen to, the television shows we watch, etc. Symbolism in literature is an effect that is used to give an object, person, or action a deeper meaning in the context of the story than it initially gives off. A good example of symbolism in the story is when superintendent Dr. Joseph Morgan arrives at the school for inspection. He makes a remark about the children’s hygiene by stating, “More emphasis on…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Big Fish

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are a lot of symbols used in this movie; Symbolism is when the writers use an object or reference to add deeper meaning to a story. Symbolism in movies can be obvious, used cautiously or a lot more complicated and require some thinking ultimately a symbol is a…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    a sepatate peace

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Some people judge themselves not on base on what they know, but on who they know, if Gene doesn't watch himself he'll become such a person.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics