War has been a constant threat to humanity. For 3,400 years, we have only been at peace for 268 years, which is only about 8% of human history. This book takes place during the second world war. In this war America was fighting against the Nazi Germany. The war is constantly held over the boys heads in A Separate Peace by John Knowles. This book shows what it was like to live in a time where war is constantly a threat to the boys. Whether it was getting drafted or mental problems from military training. The boys constantly have to face the effects of war first and second hand. In the book A separate peace by John Knowles he plays with the concepts of war and guilt . He knows that the war had banished the innocence of the boys. John plays with the feelings of the guilt taken over the boys. This feeling of war has influenced the actions of the boys Finny, Gene and Leper. John Knowles has used diction, imagery and figurative language to show the micro-level of the affects the everyday life of the boys in the story. Diction is very relevant in this story this Shows how the boys would interact with each other. He used diction to get some points across. “Which army, Quackenbush? Mussolini’s?”Show how they joke about the war even though it 's a real thing. They make fun of Quackenbush. John Knowles uses the prospect of war as a joke in this situation. “Naw, he’s a Kraut.” Is used to show how they are calling Quackenbush a Nazi. They also use this as insult and that the war is very