Summary Of A Separate Peace By John Knowles

The privilege of friendship conquers the immeasurable boundaries of deceit and treachery. When a true friendship carves in stone, nothing can break that bond. A Separate Peace takes place in 1942, roughly a year after the Pearl Harbor incident. The main character, Gene, goes to an all-boys school named Devon where he and Phineas (or Finny) are best friends. Throughout the book, their friendship goes through trials to see how strong their friendship is. Gene betrays Finny by jolting his leg when hopping on the branch of The Tree. Finny in the end forgives Gene for his acts because Finny understands what overcame Gene. Friendship comes from blood, sweat, and tears which proves Finny is a better friend than Gene. First of all, Finny teaches

Finny brings Gene along wherever he goes, and makes sure that Gene gets involved. Also, Finny strives to break Gene’s shell of academics so they can live life to the fullest. There are those who argue that Finny uses Gene to protect himself from taking the blame. There’s a chance that the only reason he keeps Gene is to have a safety net. Although, Finny can talk his way out of any situation that is set before him; Finny gets away with telling a Head Master ‘’No’’ without repercussion. Finny spilled his feelings to Gene telling him that he feels they are “best pals”. Finny states, “I hope you’re having a pretty good time here. I know I kind of dragged you away at the point of a gun, but after all you can’t come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal… Which is what you are” (48). After Finny tells Gene this, Gene can’t say it back because he is conflicted on what he feels towards Finny. Finny wholeheartedly feels the friendship they have, so he’s not using Gene for anything but a friend he can

Towards the end of the book, Finny came to the realization that his best friend had betrayed him. He couldn’t believe the news and was furious towards Gene. Though, when Gene comes to drop off Finny’s clothing and items, Finny confronts Gene about the matter in a professional manner. He hears out Gene, accepts and understands why he did it, and what happened in the tree. The book states, “He was nodding his head, his jaw tightening and his eyes closed with the tears. ‘I believe you. It’s okay because I understand and I believe you. You’ve already shown me and I believe you.’” Their friendship fell into serenity, and Finny died with a clear mind. Finny becomes outraged after he finds out the truth. The night of the stair incident, Finny cursed and lunged at Gene when he came through the infirmary window. Finny felt betrayal towards Gene because his best friend destroyed the trust and bond they had. Still, Finny came to calm down and understand what Gene was thinking and feeling at the time of the