A Separate Peace Reflection

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A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a novel that displays the concept of adolescence and the mundane outcome where we might transform ourselves to someone entirely different from what we truly are based on our actions. The story takes place during the time of World War I when males were enlisted along with tensions surrounding the place, anxious of who was going to get affected and who wasn’t. Interactions between the boys at Devon establish their character and their bonds or relationships with each other. There is a plethora of characters who change throughout the novel but one in particular caught my attention in terms of progression and development of who he becomes and his similarities to Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; Gene Forrester. …show more content…
Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there. Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone” ( Knowles 193 ). In other words to further explain this, although Gene doesn’t fully clarify who the ‘enemy’ was, it could mean two different things, whether it was Finny or the darkness inside him. This quote also shows Gene’s realization that Finny has done a lot in terms of changing the way he viewed the war, only Finny disregarded the war and refused to fear the consequences that might occur, which influenced Gene’s perspective as well. This different perspective was Gene’s separate peace, the different identity that was resulted out of Finny’s interactions with Gene. In conclusion, the interactions and events that occurred between Gene and Finny served as a big symbol not only to Gene’s character but also to other people on a daily basis. Gene and Finny show us that depending on others and the relationships we establish shape who we become as a person and also mold our character and the choices we choose to do. Furthermore, Gene shows us that through someone else, we can become someone entirely different from who we are and we can all find our own separate
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