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Separate Peace Essay, Research Paper

A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles that is about prep school

experiences during World War II. This book was a good story about an adolescents

attempt to understand the world and himself. I enjoyed reading about Gene’s

journey towards maturity and the adult world. This book takes place in Devon

School, New Hampshire during a summer session when Gene Forrester was sixteen

years old. One day Gene and Finny, his friend and roommate, went to a large tree

by the river. Finny suggested that they try and jump from the tree into the

river below them. This jump was usually for older boys. But they both made the

jump successfully, and Finny formed the Summer Suicide Society, which is

dedicated to members being initiated by jumping from the tree to the river. Each

time, Gene and Finny must go first, but Gene always has a fear of jumping. Finny

always was considered the best athlete in school, and Gene tried to

counterbalance by being the best student. After a while of joining Finny’s

activities, Gene thinks that Finny is intentionally trying to make him fail out

of school. He starts to dislike Finny and his activities, and Gene starts

interrupting his schoolwork to jump from the tree more and more often. On one

occasion, he thoughtlessly jounces the limb and Finny falls and breaks his leg.

Finny’s leg is so shattered that he will not be able to play sports again. Gene

is scared that Finny will tell that he intentionally pushed him off the tree.

After his first visit to the infirmary, Gene realizes that Finny trusts Gene

completely and would never accuse Gene. After summer vacation was over, Gene

guilty conscience decides to confess to Finny that he had deliberately pushed

him out of the tree. Finny refuses to believe his confession, and demands that

Gene leave. Autumn session had started and Gene did not try to go out for any

sports. Students volunteered to do jobs left from the workers that were sent off

to war. Many students enlisted into the army, and Gene was going to do the same

until one day he returns to his room and Finny was there. Finny confronts Gene

and tells him that he is going to coach him for the 1944 Olympics. Gene explains

that sports are not important while the war is going on. Finny will not believe

in the war, and feels that he has suffered so much already. Gene is drawn into

this belief of peace with Finny, and is not in touch with the reality that is

going on. Gene’s good friend Leper was the first to enlist in the war, which

made the war seem more and more unreal since Leper had never been concerned

about anything. Leper left after the recruiter came to Devon and showed pictures

of the ski troops in action. Later, Gene gets a telegraph from Leper asking for

help, and asks Gene to come at once. Gene arrives at Leper’s house, Gene tries

to humor Leper with jokes, but notices that Leper is too nervous and disturbed.

Gene asks him how long he will be home, and Leper says that he has escaped the

war. Then Leper gets mad and accuses Gene of thinking of him as not normal.

Leper and Gene fight over new army words and Leper says that Gene will soon be

trapped. Leper reminds Gene of the time he knocked Finny out of the tree. Gene

becomes outraged and calls Lepur a "crazy bastard." Then Leper

switches moods and begins laughing at the fact that Finny is crippled for life.

Gene knocks Leper over in his chair and onto the floor, and his mom comes in and

tells Gene that Leper is ill. Gene tries to leave, but Leper makes him stay for

lunch. Gene feels ashamed to accept the invitation for lunch. Back to Finny’s

fall, some boys from the dormitory come to get Gene and Finny to take them to

the assembly hall. They begin asking questions about Finny’s broken leg, Finny

refuses to answer the questions and bursts out of the room and falls down the

stairs and breaks the same leg again. Gene tries to visit Finny in the infirmary

but Finny wants nothing to do with him. The following day, Finny wants to know

why he pushed him out of the tree. Gene says that it was a blind impulse. That

same day, while the doctor is resetting Finny’s leg, some marrow gets into his

bloodstream and Finny dies instantly. Gene does not cry about his death, and

feels that he died with Finny and that he shouldn’t cry over one’s own death.

Gene later comes to the conclusion that war never meant anything to him, that he

had fought his own war and had killed his enemy at school. The major conflict in

the story is between Gene and Finny. Gene is jealous of Finny because is the

best athlete at school and tries to compete with that by being the best student.

Eventually, Gene’s jealousy causes him to jounce the limb while Finny jumps.

Gene then becomes aware of his inner self and learns of his true feelings. He

realizes that Finny has no hatred or jealously towards him. Another conflict is

between Leper and Gene. When Leper decided to enlist in the army, it made Gene

think that the war was unreal because Leper was not really in touch with

reality. When Gene went to go visit him at his house, they got into a verbal

argument, and went off on each other. Leper keeps saying that he has escaped

from the war, and Gene doesn’t understand what he means by it. Gene is really

infuriated with Leper when he blames Gene at the meeting and causes Finny to

fall down the

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