How Does World War 1 Change Throughout The Novel

The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles takes place during World War II in 1942. The World War II may not have directly affected the characters for the majority of the novel, but though out the novel, we see its effects on the characters' actions indirectly. The war also changes the characteristics and attitudes of certain characters of the novel, causing them to adapt and change of the thought of enlistment for the war. World War II also seems to affect the characters' interactions with others and seems to change the relationships that they share with each other. World War II is a major factor for the boys that attend Devon. Almost every choice or decision made revolve around the War. In chapter 7 the boys have to do work to replace the

An example of the war's affect on the characteristics of a character is with Leper who is timid, and pleasant before his enlistment in the war. After the war, we see that Leper mental state have become very aggressive in his treatment of others. This aggression of Lepers’ was in the mock court in chapter 12 where he refuses to give the name of the person who shook the branch stating on page (176) "You always did take me for a fool, didn't you? But I'm no fool anymore.” This is another example of Leper actually standing up for himself, something that he would have done scared to do before his experience in the war. The war also affects Brinker similar to Finny he decides to form a deep hatred towards the war to convince himself from the fact that there really is a war. This is seen in the second last paragraph with Gene's comment "or else, like Brinker, develop a careless resentment towards it" (204) which meant that Brinker dislike the war. The war also prompts the main characters of the novel to develop a sort of defense wall in their characteristics to deal with the war which is seen with the closing remark by the adult Gene in the last chapter. Adult Gene comments "All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier" (204). This quote refers to the characters' attitudes