a separate peace

T.E Apter once said, "Fantasy must be understood not as an escape from reality, but as an investigation of it." This means that one's imagination is not an escape from reality, but rather a better way to understand it. In A Separate Peace, this idea is refuted, as the two main characters try avoiding a crude and cruel reality that follows them. In one instance, Finny and Gene prepare for the Olympics of 1944, an imaginary event which would only take place in their minds. These Olympics become part of an even bigger fantasy that the war is only a charade. Meanwhile the fantasy that their friendship is so strong negates the painful possibility that Gene is responsible for Finny's tragedy. These two teenage boys are not trying to interpret reality, but instead creating a new one as they desperately want and need one just for them. While Gene trained for the Olympics with Finny, he created himself a fantasy. Knowing that the Olympics would not take place in 1944 as Finny said they would, Gene continued on training to win. For one matter, Gene was doing it to make his friend happy, as it had been Finny's dream to compete, but now couldn't because of his fractured leg. One could also say that Gene did it as a way to distract himself from the ongoing war. "What deceived me was my own happiness; for peace is indivisible, and the surrounding world confusion found no reflection inside me. So I ceased to have any real sense of it"(123). This fantasy of preparing for the Olympics was like freedom from the problems occurring around him. It was an escape, one that pleased him as he didn't have to deal with everything else, including the guilt he felt from ruining Finny's dream. Finny's theory of a nonexistent war was a solace for coping with his shattered dreams. While his unability to play sports deeply upset him, his private attempts at enlisting in the army and various other military units were rejected. This only increased his feeling of being useless to