A Separate Peace By John Knowles: Character Analysis

A Separate Peace, Written by John Knowles tells the fictional story of a young man by the name of Gene. Throughout the novel, World War Two plays a very interesting role in the life of the main character. In the beginning the war has almost little to no importance to the characters of this book, however as the novel progresses the importance of the war envelopes the characters; when comparing the start to then end it can bee seen how the war slowly but surely dominates their lives. At the start of the novel, WWll is mentioned very rarely, and is of little importance to the characters. For example: The tree Finny breaks his leg on is mentioned to be used for military training, however this means very little to them. Gene and Finny seem to detach certain things like the tree from the war, and instead allow it to resemble a fun yet dangerous activity. In reality, the tree represents something much darker. It represents the war, and perhaps even the death of the current seniors at Devon because its intended use is to train the older kids for their future in the military.”They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid courses and a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree.” (Knowles pg.

Characters previously unconcerned with the war are now consumed by it, and let it control their day to day lives. Some characters such as Leper were affected much greater by the war than others. On page 114 Gene states that “…I didn't care what i said to him now; It was myself i was worried about. For if Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it to him, and I and all of us were on the brink of the army.” (Knowles). This quote truly shows just how scared, and consumed the characters were. After speaking to Leper, it really sets in just how much control WW2 has over