“He possessed an extra vigor, a heightened confidence in himself, a serene capacity for affection which saved him nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural way. So at last I had” (John Knowles A Separate Peace). In his novel, A Separate Peace, John Knowles explores the importance of growing up and the danger of trying to stay forever young. John Knowles shares with his readers the importance of growing up, and that trying to stay forever young can be destructive to everyone around you. In his novel one of the main characters Phineas is a child at heart. He sees the world as a cruel place and decides he never wants to grow up. He does this through many actions during …show more content…
Gene knows this is a childish activity, but goes along since Finny is his best friend! This one act stems to the creation of a secret society completely made up by Finny, called “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. The society is to meet every night and the meeting is to start out with Finny and Gene jumping out of the dreadful tree, Gene starts to see this as tiring and he gets bored with it, He would rather stay in his room and study so he can become the head of the class like he has always dreamed! One night he decides to tell Finny he is not coming, but when Finny does not put up a fight Gene tags right along knowing he is his best friend. This night things change for the best and the worst. The boys jump side by side on this very small branch, but Finny is not so lucky. He falls off the branch, hitting a bank, and breaking his leg. Gene comes down with major guilt because it was his fault, but his best pal refuses to think so, Finny tells him in his home to sit down and shut up before he punches him! Finny here is in denial and being yet again a