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A Separate Peace Compare And Contrast Essay

718 Words3 Pages

Everything Has an Opposite “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, that explained his insistence that I share all his diversions. The way I believed that you’re-my-best-friend blabber!” (Knowles 45). A Separate Peace by John Knowles focuses on the two main characters Gene and Phineas who attend Devon Boys Boarding school. Gene and Phineas are best friends yet polar opposites, Gene is very academically smart and Phineas is very athletic and does not care about school. Although Gene and Phineas seem similar in many ways, in reality they are polar opposites. In the book A Separate Peace everything has opposites. One opposite that is easily found in A Separate Peace is the rivers that run alongside Devon. Before this quote it is talking about how nobody …show more content…

A person that is opposite from Gene in A Separate Peace is Finny. Before this quote Finny and Gene are talking about the war and Finny brings up the fact that he does not believe that it is real. Finny believes that the war is a hoax. “‘Do you really think that the United States of America is in a state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?’ ‘Do I really think …’ My voice trailed off” (Knowles 107). This is a great example of Gene and Finny being opposites; there are many other ways that they are opposites. This quote shows that Gene thinks that the war is real, however he does not want to admit that to Finny because Finny does not think that it is real. A number of people may say that Gene and Finny are similar in many ways including how they react to situations. While that may be true, the real point to consider is that they are different in more ways than similar . One of those ways could be how they react to certain situations. “I noticed something about Finny’s own mind, which was such an opposite from mine” (Knowles 26). This quote shows another way in

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943 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction: Gene is a 16 year old boy attending the Devon boarding school in the year 1942. He is an introvert who is trying to find himself throughout the book, A Separate Peace. Gene befriends a boy named Phineas, or Finny. Finny is the exact opposite of Gene, he is an extrovert who likes adventure and breaking rules. The two boys become close friends, but throughout their friendship Gene is jealous of Finny.

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342 Words | 2 Pages

A Separate Peace Gene and Finny are Psychological aspects of the same person. Because some things gene says make it seem like they are the same person. Gene and Finny are the same person just have different sides of that one person. Gene is the sarcastic, anxious, and jealous side of him, and Finny is the fun, loving, peaceful, energetic, brave side. Then Leper could be the crazy psycho path side of Gene after he goes to war.

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621 Words | 3 Pages

There are many instances in “A Separate Peace" in which Gene and Finny are each other's foil character. Throughout this novel there are many different ways that Gene and Finny highlight one anothers aspects. During their interactions it is obvious how well these two characters serve as foils for each other. Finny is outgoing, charismatic, and carefree. While Gene on the other hand is analytical, introverted, and envious.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.

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438 Words | 2 Pages

In John Knowles A Separate Peace he writes about the transition from childhood to adolescence. In this coming of age novel taking place in the 1950’s two teenage boys Finny and Gene form a relationship based on fear and adventure. The two opposite teens, finny a outgoing basically perfect teen and gene being a lesser perfect balances out the relationship between the two. The fact that they are somewhat minor opposites aren’t the only thing that brings the two together. Finny’s fear of anything bad or evil and gene’s fear of hitting rock bottom forms a relationship between the two teens which sets the stage for us all.

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702 Words | 3 Pages

My Separate Peace “Envy is Ignorance; imitation is suicide” (370). A Separate Peace written by John Knowles took place at Devon school in 1942. Knowles depicts Gene progress from innocence to experience by creating a character that is at war within himself and finding himself in through this war . A Separate Peace illustrates how Genes’s envy and imitation affects him, his relationship with Finny and Gene’s achievement with finding peace. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affected him; Gene’s imitation affected him by making him a follower of Finny, Knowles states, “ What was I doing up here anyway?

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438 Words | 2 Pages

Identity is an important factor in life, and not knowing yours affects more than just yourself. Gene and Finny’s relationship is a reflection of real life friendships. While most friendships don't end in one person killing the other, the novel A Separate Peace still teaches the reader what not to do in order to make a friendship

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446 Words | 2 Pages

Thought Over Truth How do you know the whole story if you were only told from one perspective? A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles told during World War II, from the perspective of Gene Forrester, an intelligent, but not athletic student. Gene tells his memory of his senior year at Devon School, a school which only boys attend, but is his memory the whole truth? Gene has shown us that he is misleading and biased.

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780 Words | 4 Pages

In John Knowles' historical novel A Separate Peace, Brinker, Gene, and Mr. Hadley have different opinions about war. The contrast of viewpoints are displayed through the tones and beliefs of each character. Mr. Hadley, having already served in the war, has a conversation with his son Brinker and Gene (upcoming draftees for World War II) that reveal each of their feelings. The boys are annoyed and uneasy with the concept of war throughout the conversation with Mr. Hadley, and so is John Knowles. Mr. Hadley, however, has a pleasant opinion toward the war.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

He is basically, through rhetorical questions, saying that he does not want to do what Finny does, but it’s like he cannot help it. This is affecting who Gene is as a person because he is not thinking for himself. Is Gene really even himself if Finny is doing the thinking for him? If he is not thinking for himself, he is not being true to himself. Another way that Gene is affected is that he allows his imitation of Finny get in the way of his schooling.

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1895 Words | 8 Pages

In the beginning Gene’s struggles of being better than Phineas identified him as his own person. However, Gene’s identity crisis and his loss of his own goals caused him to mold himself into another person. In other words, insecurities can negatively impact us physically, emotionally, and mentally. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, tells a story of a 16-year-old boy, Gene Forrester and his various feelings that he harbors for his gifted best friend, Phineas. Throughout the novel, Gene is constantly living in the shadow of Phineas in which he grows to breed resentment, envy, and even hate.

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1372 Words | 6 Pages

Gene has many different emotions about Finny, it is conveyed that he is extremely envious and jealous of him. These negative emotions are the leading factors for some of the problems the two of them have later on. For example, Gene’s jealousy sparked something in him to “jounce” the limb. Gene’s feelings got in the way of their friendship. Gene was planning on enlisting, but when Gene walked in and Finny was there, he changed his mind completely and acted as if he never wanted to in the first place; “Enlist!

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741 Words | 3 Pages

“Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time of school; I killed my enemy there” (Knowles, 204). A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, was taken place at Devon High in the mid 1940’s, in the New England area during WWII. The main character, Gene, is a very smart, but envious and imitative kid that returns back to his school later in life to find peace within himself and past conflicts. Gene’s envious and imitative actions have had many affects within himself, others, and his future, but has found peace throughout everything. Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him a lot throughout the novel.

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468 Words | 2 Pages

“A Separate Peace” is a Coming of Age story with 236 pages and was published by Harvill Secker. Written by John Knowles, this novel is about adolescence, specifically the dark side, during World War II, in the setting of a boys’ boarding school. I believe the author’s purpose in writing this novel was to write about how the war affected children and how it impacted their lives. The book discusses the fact that humans cannot remain at peace in their relationships with others until they find inner peace for themselves.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

Emerson states that “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” (370). A Separate Peace by John Knowles, takes place at Devon which is a boy’s prep school in New Hampshire. The reader is introduced to a character named Gene who has no confidence and envies his best friend Finny. A Separate Peace demonstrates how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects him, how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affects his relationship with Finny, and Gene’s achievement of peace.

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