A Separate Peace Essay
In John Knowles' novel, a separate peace resembles an entity, a friendship or any other intimate or isolated microcosm in which the outside world seems more distant and more chaotic. The main things that brought this separate peace to Gene were the friendship that Gene had with Finny and the comfort provided Devon School. Just as September 11th created emotional and physical turmoil in this generation, World War II affected the nation during Gene's generation and caused him to turn to Devon and Finny for solace.
Gene and Finny's relationship was very important to Gene and to the story itself. The relationship that Gene had with Finny brought introverted Gene out of his shell; for example, Finny stated, "I know I kind of dragged you away at the point of a gun, but after all you don't come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal" (Knowles, Page 40).
A Separate Peace
English: Finny Joseph an Gospel Singer.
English: Finny pike, a fish found in Egypt.Gene also helped Finny become more aware of his academics by tutoring Finny and helping him study. Gene and Finny did several activities which distracted them from the war or anything else happening in the outside world. Gene and Finny had lots of fun especially when Finny "had broken A. Hopkins Parker's record by .7 second." (Knowles, Page 35). To Gene, Finny was simply "too good to be true." (Knowles, Page 36).
In addition to Gene's friendship with Finny, Devon School also played a major role in giving everyone in attendance peace. Devon served as an escape from the outside world and from reality for Gene. Gene noticed away from Devon that there was not "very much to buy" (Knowles, Page 32) and the "trains were always late" (Knowles, Page 32). Devon is more calm and civil than...