Everyone has a desire to out-do, or show-up, other people in our everyday life, but some of us feel the need to achieve dominance over those who work with us, those in our family, those who have set records in the past, or even our friends. It is just this need that fuels John Knowles's A Separate Peace, a novel written about a Devon Academy during World War II. Devon, a boarding school, becomes a microcosm lock away from the rest of the world and not involved in the war for the most part until the boys become old enough to enlist. This need to achieve dominance is present in many of the main students but is different for each individual, and this need in them greatly affects the drama in the novel.
The need to dominate is most potent in Gene, the main character in the novel. Gene is the narrator of the novel, intelligent and in the running for valedictorian at Devon and is extremely competitive for this academic achievement, but Gene is also competitive in all other fields, especially with his best friend Finny. Gene is jealous of the way Finny is more athletic than anyone at school and that he can smoothly talk his way out of any trouble he may get into. Gene's jealously goes so far as to wish for his best friend to get caught, shown with his felling of a "sudden stab of disappointment" when Finny talks his way out of trouble when the dean notices that he has wore the school tie as a belt. Gene's jealousy is also shown when he sees that Finny can even get away with wearing a pink shirt and not be made fun of by the other boys, when Gene knows in his heart that they would never let anyone else live it down, so to speak. Finny is a remarkable athlete with a certain disregard for the rules and regulations and the ability to win over anyone. Finny is competitive but not to the point that someone loses shown in the game blitz ball, which he invents, that is definitely a show of athletic skill but has not loser and not teams, Finny wishes the war were more this way.
So they created a separate peace. ... Finny found his separate peace within his denial. ... This is where Gene and Finny find a separate peace. ... He wished to clear his separate peace. ... Given these facts, Gene received his separate peace through Finny. ...
Separate Peace In John Knowles book A Separate Peace he communicates how the war in him was taking its toll on him. ... (Knowles, 32) This is what Gene stands for in the book A Separate Peace. ... This is the start of a separate peace. ... This is like Finny's world of a separate peace. ... Finny has created a separate peace at Devon that he substitutes for the real war. ...
A Separate Peace is a mind riveting novel dealing with adolescent development and one boy's struggle to understand himself and the world in times of turmoil. ... I feel that the novel A Separate Peace is truly focused on two wars. ... I think it is interesting that John Knowles named his novel A Separate Peace. "A separate peace" refers to the Devon School that Gene attends. ... A Separate Peace is definitely a mind bending novel. ...
A Separate Peace was written by active author John Knowles from his real experiences and personal struggles. ... The primary setting of A Separate Peace is at the Devon School. ... A Separate Peace considers two conflicts: man against man and man against himself. ... The style of A Separate Peace is realistic. ... I would recommend A Separate Peace to everyone who has eyes to read it or someone to read it to them. ...
A Separate Peace was written by active author John Knowles from his real experiences and personal struggles. ... The primary setting of A Separate Peace is at the Devon School. ... A Separate Peace considers two conflicts: man against man and man against himself. ... The style of A Separate Peace is realistic. ... I would recommend A Separate Peace to everyone who has eyes to read it or someone to read it to them. ...
John Knowles's A Separate Peace was a wonderful story about friendship and life. ... I didn't really have a "favorite part" of A Separate Peace, nor did I have a favorite character. ... John Knowles A Separate Peace is a wonderful book that teaches a lot about friendship and trust. ...
A "Separate Peace" (published in 1960) takes place during the Second World War in a New England Prep School called Devon (based on Phillips Exeter Academy). ... The main characters Gene and Finny are always struggling between the "separate peace" and the real war. ... The war in Europe took away the peace from the boys, affected them, and influenced them to be ready for what was coming to them. ... Even thought he tried to hide it by making the Separate Peace, in which he and Gene practiced for Olympics. ... Even Finny who was thought to be in a "Separate Peace" admitted the reality of th...
A Separate Peace Symbols are often used throughout the novel A Separate Peace, to help the reader distinguish between who or what is moral and immoral. ... The second main symbol would be the Winter Carnival, which represented the peace and freedom that were considered as qualities of Finny. ... The Devon River symbolized peace because the war did not really affect the people in Devon, but the Naguamsett River represented Europe where the war was taking place with all the battles. ... He was trying to make it seem like he was infected with the filth, which represente...
A Separate Peace A Separate Peace true relates to a person going through adolescence. ... He seems to be at peace with him self when things around him are at peace as well. ... Him seeing the women's face on men's bodies and human parts on chairs and tables shows that he was not at peace anymore. He needs to be in the woods or oust side to be a peace. ...
In general the setting is its own separate peace. ... The winter carnival is an example that shows the students at the school creating their own separate peace. ... Finny successfully creates his own separate peace by creating a fantasy world. ... In this novel, A Separate Peace is shown through different examples. ... A separate peace for some is what resolves a problem that can have an effect on someone's life. ...
