Friendship. War. Carless peace. This work of literature teaches disciple in many different ways. Training for olympics. The author has boys enlist and get drafted for war. He has Finny, Gene, and the upper classmen jumping out of the tree. Even characters like Leper Lepellier and Brinker Hadley show disciple. So, from jumping out of a tree to getting ready for war, John Knowles’ A Separate Peace uses discipline as a main theme for the novel.
To begin with, towards the end of the book Finny tains Gene for the Olympics. Training for the Olympics is like training for a sport. It is hard work and hard work requires a lot of discipline. Some synonyms of discipline are coach, teach, and train. All three of these terms connect to Finny getting Gene ready for the olympics. Gene would be gaining discipline from how Finny trains him. Gene and Finny are talking when Finny says “‘Did I ever tell you...that I used to be aiming for the Olympics?...Well, I was. And now I'm not sure, not a hundred percent sure I'll be completely, you know, in shape by 1944. So I'm going to coach you for them instead.’” (117) Gene becomes inspired and feels
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“the class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid programs and a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree.” (15) All these things that the boys did in preparation for war showed their discipline. The fact that they go to fight knowing they might not come back. These boys spend most their time training to fight and be in the action. That's why Gene said they were draft bait and were practically soldiers. War isn't easy. It takes a lot of hard work and is very unpredictable, no one ever knows when they'll get drafted. Leper was the first to enlist and thats y he shows