A Seperate Peace

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2008

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''The more things change, the more they remain the same.''(904) There are many themes presented in the book A Separate Peace, But I think the most meaningful and bold theme in the book is the theme of transformation. The most obvious transformations were that of the main characters, Gene and Finny. Some other characters besides Gene and Finny also had transformations. For most people, transformations occur over a matter of years, or even decades. If you flip through a ten year old photo album I bet you would find out you are a whole different person now than you were ten years ago. In A Separate Peace the two main characters, Gene and Phineas (also called Finny), go through very obvious transformations over a matter of months.

In the beginning of the book, Gene Forrester was intelligent, thoughtful, competitive, and a mediocre athlete. He does not like big displays of emotion, just like most people at Devon, the prep school he attends.

He is also a follower and listens to Finny because he does not want to lose Finny's respect. Finny on the other hand, is almost a polar opposite of Gene. He is honest, handsome, self-confident, extremely likable, rebellious, and an excellent athlete. As a matter of fact, he is the best athlete at Devon. Finny likes to live life at its fullest, even if that means no work and all play. He is loyal to his friends and is best friends with gene.

Gene was a little bit Jealous of Finny's talents at the beginning of the book, but that small bit of jealousy soon escalated and Gene changed more and more as his envy for Finny inflated. In chapter 4, Gene and Finny get back from a forbidden trip to the beach (Gene is...