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Summary Of The Novel 'A Separate Peace' By John Knowles

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John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace has shown us that friendship is an essential part of life, and that you must be loyal to your friends in order to have a healthy friendship. In the novel A Separate Peace, the theme of friendship is displayed elegantly throughout the novel between the two main characters Gene and Phineas. As these two best friends go from the greatest friends in the world to friends competing against each other and seeking vengeance in order to gain superiority, we see rivalry, the consequences of jealousy, and how self sufficiency is not the key to a strong and lasting friendship. In this book, rivalry is very strong and prominent within the students at The Devon School, and in many cases in this book rivalry is exemplified. …show more content…

This was why he liked me so much. When I jumped on top of him, my knees on his chest, he couldn't ask for anything better. We struggled in some equality for a while, and then when we were sure we were too late for dinner, we broke off.” In this quote from the book, Gene and Phineas experience rivalry in a fun non harmful way as they both wrestle each other on the ground. When Gene jumps on top on Finny, Finny started to smile as he knew that it was all in good fun. However rivalry can also be really damaging to a friendship, which is what happened to Gene and Finny. Because they were rivals, when Gene and Finny were climbing up the tree, Gene felt the need to try to injure Finny because he was the star athlete of The Devon School and Gene was not very athletic. In order to hinder Finnys athletic success and take away the one thing he is best at, Gene decides to sabotage Finny in the wake of a Rivalry. Rivalry …show more content…

Gene has trouble dealing with the fact that Phineas has the ability to talk his way out of any situation he gets himself into, and never gets in trouble for breaking the rules. “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little.” in this quote, Gene starts to envy Phineas for his ability to get away with anything. Gene tells himself that there is “no harm” in envying your best friend a little. Although a little envy may seem harmless to Gene, jealousy can bring out the worst in

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846 Words | 4 Pages

Point: Leper is like a blender because he is all mixed up. Evidence: After Gene’s trip to see Leper he is fully convinced he has become crazy after the frequent crying and the absurd talk between the two characters. Sadly Gene finally admits it and confirms when Brinker says “I’ll bet he cracked up, didn’t he? That’s what happened.” referring to Leper.

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In his 1961 farewell address, the 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower coined the term the ‘Military-Industrial Complex.’ He was concerned with the possibility of a power imbalance because of the, “relationship between the military, and corporations that had become dependent upon military contracts.” Eisenhower’s anxiety about the growing scope and cost of Americas defence industry came after a successful military career, and at the end of a presidency which included the rapid amplification the US’s defence and military services. Also, from an significant increase in nuclear stockpiling, in an attempt to remain level with their military counterparts. Eisenhower’s aim was to make his successors and the American people aware of the risks of promoting defence policies that could undermine American democracy, and would take

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871 Words | 4 Pages

John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.

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700 Words | 3 Pages

Gene’s relationship with his “best friend” Phineas describes how the relationship resulted in the killing of Gene's enemy, his own youth, and innocence. Gene is plainly described in the novel as envious of Finny, he is also depicted as the position of much hatred and dismay by his peers. Therefore, the fact that Gene kills his own youth is likely considering Finny’s success, Gene’s jealousy towards

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438 Words | 2 Pages

The way he expresses how even though Phineas is gone and he still wants to be like him, shows that Gene was never himself and still has to try to be like Finny in order to be happy. Gene states, “Phineas created an atmosphere in which I continued now to live,” (pg. 202). Phineas had an impact on Gene whether he was alive or dead. What he thought was a normal friendship was actually a very unhealthy relationship between two people that was eventually ended by jealousy. Their friendship proves that in order to have a healthy relationship you must be true to who you are and stick to what you believe in.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the rest of the book Knowles keeps stating Gene’s thoughts of regret andFinny’s disbelief of the situation. In a true friendship, if one was feeling a great amount jealousy,one would most likely talk it through or at least think through the situation instead of trying tocause physical harm to them. Once summer session is over, Brinker Hadley comes into the two boys room unaware ofFinny’s return and asks Gene if he is ready to enlist which they talked about prior to Finny’sreturn. Finny who wanted nothing more to be able to enlist was thinking about losing his bestfriend but reacted differently. He kind of shook it off and went to shower.

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At the beginning of the novel, Gene is envious of Phineas’s talents and care-free spirit. Therefore, Gene’s doubts destroys his confidence in his own capabilities. Although Gene is honored to be Phineas’s best friend, and this makes him realize that,

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287 Words | 2 Pages

Gene was struggling with the concept of jealousy all throughout the novel. At first Gene thought that Finny was jealous of Gene, only to come and find out that Finny was never jealous. This realization made Gene even angrier than before. This anger was the cause of Finny’s fall. Gene was so angry with Finny, that when they were up in the tree

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979 Words | 4 Pages

Gene becomes more and more jealous of Finny’s identity and therefore has to fight an internal battle against himself as his desire to be like Finny grows stronger and eventually leads to a tragedy. Gene is jealous of Finny because he can get away with anything. However, jealousy isn’t just a random feeling, it is a desire to obtain something that others have - sometimes no matter what the cost is. In the beginning of the novel, Finny decides to wear his pink shirt that his mom sent him, even though it was against school rules. Gene thinks that Finny is going to get in trouble for wearing a non-school uniform, but instead begins to understand that, “Phineas could get away with anything” (Knowles 25).

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1239 Words | 5 Pages

They are supposed to be best friends, but Gene envies him and thinks he is trying to make him look bad. After Finny’s accident, Gene struggled with guilt and his life was changed because of it. “I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was. One evening when I was dressing for dinner in this numbed frame of mind, an idea occurred to me, the first with any energy behind it since Finny fell from the tree. I decided to put on his clothes” (Knowles 29).

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A Separate Peace: Homoerotic Theory and Hidden Love John Knowles was a very well known American author for his most popular novel, A Separate Peace, published in 2003. Knowles does not hold back when writing descriptions of characters or their emotions. This is very important for the novel because it lets readers visualize the emotions the characters feel and how they view each other. Knowles describes his own use of this literary technique in A Separate Peace by using the two main characters, Gene and Finny, and the setting of the novel, an all boys school named Devon Prep.

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907 Words | 4 Pages

Jealously Kills Envy and imitation could impact life for eternity. Ralph Waldo Emerson states that “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” (Emerson 370). In the novel, A Separate Peace, John Knowles writes about two boys living in New Hampshire during World War II. The boys become best friends, but the traits of envy and imitation haunts them for life. One of the boys is named Gene, which is the narrator of the novel.

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582 Words | 3 Pages

Finny and Gene’s Friendship Friendship is very important in this story. Friendship is very important for a person’s well-being. In this book titled A Separate Peace by John Knowles the reader learns a lot about friendship in this book.

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946 Words | 4 Pages

Phineas understands that Gene had something deep within his heart that Gene himself could not physically control. Directly after Gene agrees that it was not anything personal, Phineas says, “I believe you. It’s okay because I understand and I believe you. You’ve already shown me and I believe you” (Knowles 191). Despite the fact that Gene’s actions tragically affected Phineas and eventually led to Phineas’s death, Phineas still shows great forgiveness for Gene.

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820 Words | 4 Pages

A human 's identity is all a person has to segregate him from the rest of the world. In John Knowles novel A Separate Peace, Gene and Phineas ' are two best friends at boarding school during world war WWII. Gene 's obsession toward Phineas strikes when he has commixed feelings of jealousy and veneration for his roommate and best friend . Gene 's obsession with his best friend Phineas reaches an extreme in their relationship when Gene is so infatuated by Phineas that it begins to cause disorder among them. The obsession that Gene has on phineas causes unhealthy thoughts that lead to an unbalanced friend”.at he can feel like Phineas and not cogitate all the negativity that is circumventing him.

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