Short Summary Of A Separate Peace

The setting of the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is set at the Devon School, which is an all boys academy where boys go before they are enlisted into the military. It is located in New Hampshire. The novel starts off in the present but later reflects back fifteen years during the middle of World War II. The mood throughout the novel shifts as the story develops. For example, the book begins with Gene returning to Devon. One would consider the opening mood of the chapter as dark because Gene goes back to the haunting places where accidents happened. Later in the novel, it becomes much darker as insecurity and jealousy take over. The main character of this novel is Gene Forrester, who is also the protagonist and the narrator.

Finny climbs the tree and jumps into the river, along with Gene. The boys created a club called the Super Suicide Society of the summer session. The requirement for joining the club is to jump out of the tree. Gene envies Finny’s athletic abilities and is jealous. At a club meeting, Finny wanted to do a cool jump with Gene. As Finny gets ready to jump, Gene jounced the limb and Finny falls and breaks his leg also ending his athletic career. Gene tries telling Finny that he shook the limb, but Finny didn’t believe it. At the end of the novel, Finny takes off running and falls down the marble stairs and re-breaks the bone. Finny’s bone marrow went into the bloodstream causing him to

Gene struggles with himself and feelings toward Finny. Gene loves and resents Finny but after the accident, Gene is filled with regret. One conflict was when Gene wanted Finny to get in trouble for wearing the tie as a belt. “This time he wasn’t going to get away with it, I could feel myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that” (27). When Finny did not get in trouble, Gene was a bit disappointed and jealous. Gene tells himself that Finny feels exactly the same way, convincing himself that Finny envies Gene’s academic achievements. The rivalry lets Gene avoid feeling resentment. Gene cannot handle the fact the Finny is so perfect. Gene decides there must have never been a rivalry between each other. When Finny walked out on the limb, Gene jounced the branch and Finny fell. All Gene feels is regret and spends time in his room to question himself. After Gene found out that Finny cannot play sports anymore, nothing but regret was shown.

The main conflict is only resolved after Finny’s death. Gene realizes that he is his own enemy and accepts that a person cannot measure oneself by the abilities of another person. Gene will obviously never forgive himself. He has come to grips with who he is and what he did. Gene also has refused to let the memories of Finny fade. The conclusion of the novel involves Gene reflecting on himself and other