Summary Of A Separate Peace By John Knowles

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is the story of Gene and Finny’s friendship at a boarding school in New England, called Devon, during the early years of World War II. Their friendship is tested when Finny falls out of a tree because Gene jostled the limb. A Separate Peace is a novel of sin and redemption because Gene strives to redeem himself for what he did, Finny’s fall symbolizes the loss of innocence for the characters at Devon.
To being with, Finny’s fall marks the end of the summer session, which represents the carefree innocence at Devon. After Finny’s fall, life at Devon becomes darker. Finny's fall symbolizes the loss of innocence, which is a major theme of the novel. It is only after Finny’s fall that the students start to seriously consider enlisting in the army. Finny is generally happy-go-lucky character, but after the fall, he changes. When Gene admits to Finny that he caused him to fall off the branch,

Adam represents Finny and Eve represents Gene. Gene commits a sin when he causes Finny to fall off the tree because of his jealousy. Eve commits a sin when she eats an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Finny had to bear the consequences of what was done even though they did not actually do anything wrong. Throughout the novel, Gene tries to redeem himself for causing the death of Finny, but he never truly does redeem himself. “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on the uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.” (Knowles 204) He may not have killed anyone during the war, but he killed his best friend. He will never redeem himself for that because Finny's death had many negative effects on the people at Devon, including Gene. Gene can not redeem himself as long as he can not truly forgive