A Separate Peace Essay

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J.D.
Kris
English 101
19 January 2014

Symbolism
There are various symbols encased in the writing of A Separate Peace. Throughout the novel, the reader is shown the school life of a boy named Gene and his best friend Finny. The book begins with Gene returning to Devon, the boarding school he attended, after 15 years. Gene has a flashback to 1942, where he goes through every detail leading up to the death of Finny. Symbols are a major characteristic in A Separate Peace because the Summer and Winter Sessions, the tree, and Finny’s broken leg all play equally important roles in the plot of the story. The Summer and Winter Sessions are main symbols in this novel. In the Summer Session, life at Devon was simple and consisted of carefree, youthful adventures with friends. When the Summer Session comes to an end, the boys at Devon receive a rude awakening. As winter arrives, the strict rules and the war come with it. Just like the weather, the mood at Devon changes drastically.
When returning to Devon, Gene considers the tree to be a fearful site. As a student, Gene felt the tree was “tremendous, an irate, steely black steeple beside the river” (6).However, after revisiting the tree as a grown adult, Gene finds that it seems smaller and is no longer an opposing threat. Gene also realizes that though the tree had remained unchanged, he himself has changed. Gene no longer lives in fear of the tree that held many painful memories of Devon and its trauma while he was attending school there. Finny and Gene’s friendship is put to the ultimate test after Finny breaks his leg. Not only does Gene feel the guilt of causing the injury, but just like Finny’s leg, the boys feel their friendship may have a break in it. The two face betrayal and suspicion when Gene suspects Finny has been out to get him throughout the duration of their friendship. However, after forgiving each other, Gene and Finny feel their friendship may be stronger than ever, that is until Finny takes another fall. After Finny’s second fall, this time down the marble stairs, the

A Separate Peace

unbreakable. Best friends are supportive of each other and love each other no matter what. What happens though, when one of the friends begins to grow jealous of the other? Does the friendship persevere? Or, does the friendship fall apart? In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, two best friends appear to have this unbreakable friendship bond. Finny and Gene are two boys trying to survive high school at The Devon School. The two are best friends until the unthinkable happens. Gene begins to grow jealous…

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Symbolism In A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace is a novel with many different symbols within it. Readers have the opportunity to create their own conclusions to what these symbols could represent. One of these such symbols is within the novel’s title itself. A reader can draw several different conclusions about what the title could mean. A reader could make the conclusion that “A Separate Peace” could represent a type of peace that all of the students at Devon are trying to achieve. Another representation someone could conclude…

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Adolescence In A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace The novel Separate Peace portrays adolescence as having a sense of wonder and terror showing that adolescents make impulsive decisions. Many events occurred in the novel that demonstrates the wonder that caused the characters actions and the terror of the outcomes. The time period of the novel adds to the accumulation of terror as it continues on. Adolescence is a difficult time considering the lack of experience one might have, making dependence on others inevitable; in comparison…

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A Separate Peace Symbolism

In A Separate Peace the tree fall is used to make a drastic change in character, and symbolize a few things. Finny and Gene transformed drastically. It can also symbolize a few things about guilt and friendship. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles used the tree fall to symbolize Gene’s actions that he did on purpose because of jealousy and his immense guilt. When Gene made Finny fall out of the tree, it was not an accident. Gene had this plan since they were going up the tree it appears. He felt like…

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Jealousy In A Separate Peace

his encounter of him having to face growing up. Jealousy is evident in A Separate Peace through the author’s use of epiphany, tone, and conflict. Gene acted on emotions frequently which lead to him having a guilty feeling after he had came to the realization of what he had to FInny in the tree. “I burst out…

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A Separate Peace Reflection

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…

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A Separate Peace Analysis

Jake Eissler Mr. Eikner English, per.2 11/23/10 The War Is a Bore Although John Knowles’ 1959 novel, A Separate Peace, may mask itself to the ignorant eye as a clichéd sob story revolving around one boy’s mistakes, the story exemplifies Gene’s inescapable odyssey on a path where all boys must soon trudge along, a path of war. Through the use of scenery and places, a route towards death and destruction can be unearthed from pleasant playing fields and endless forests. Creating rich atmospheres…

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A Separate Peace Essay

Daniel Feeney Mrs. Shapiro English 1 CPE 14 January 2015 Changes At Devon In the novel A Separate Peace, the main characters face many times of war and peace and have they have to make hard decisions to stay strong. These decisions changed the boys and everyone at the Devon either for the better or for the worse. Some of the times would be when Phineas fell from the tree, the winter carnival or when Phineas passed away at the end of the book. These times shaped one place in particular: Devon,…

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Separate Peace Theme

The message of John Knowles A Separate Peace is to find a peace within yourself, and in their time at Devon many of the boys found this peace through romanticism of reality; they chose to cover reality with a cloud of delusion and dreaming up fantasies to avoid the truth. This theory is mainly shown through the three main characters: Gene, Finny, and Leper. By pretending lies were the truth, each boy created an additional battle by pretending the real one didn’t exist: “All of them, all except Phineas…

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Diction In A Separate Peace

September 1,1939. This event had an egregious effect on America socially, economically, and politically. Due to the damage that occurred, many workers migrated through cities to find work, or were drafted to enlist in the war. In the novel, A Separate Peace, the author John Knowles emphasizes the uniqueness of the era by portraying America as sorrowful and struggling to accept the effects of the war. Knowles achieves this by utilizing simple sentences, reflective imagery and diction. Knowles…

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