Surroundings In A Separate Peace

The Power of our Surroundings

All successful authors use an array of strategies to convey the theme contained within their novels. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is rich with literary devices used to demonstrate the central theme of the story. A Separate Peace is a novel about an all boys’ school called Devon during the time of World War II. The narrative shows the progression of the main character, Gene, and his friends, and how they are changed by the war. Particularly, the novel focuses on Gene and his best friend Finny and how their relationship is altered. Through Gene’s exploits at Devon, John Knowles uses metaphors, personification, and war-like diction to convey the ever-present theme of how life events change us. Knowles uses

The larger surrounding, or macrocosm, of the Devon School is World War II. Through personification, Knowles makes it clear how this circumstance affects the lives of the students. In the midst of the worldwide conflict, it becomes extremely easy for Gene to become pessimistic and lose hope. When waking up on the beach during sunrise with Finny, Gene describes the ocean as being “dead” and “gray”, embodying his new-found dread and negativity (Knowles 49). The tragedies that his country faces begin to affect Gene and prevent him from seeing beauty, such as the sunrise on the beach. When he describes the winter, Gene also displays how the war has changed him. He portrays winter as a conqueror that destroys everything in its path (Knowles 128). Again, this pessimistic description shows how the war has demolished his last shreds of optimism, making him feel desolate and critical of everything that he encounters. However, after the death of his best friend, Finny, Gene begins to recognize the beauty in everyday objects and becomes extremely insightful. After waking up inside the Stadium, a stone structure on campus, Gene feels as though the stadium could speak and that “its words could hold [him] spellbound” (Knowles 187). This thoughtful personification reflects how Finny’s death completely changes Gene and allows him to once again see the world in a positive light and look

He realizes that the horrors of the war have lead to even more injuries, caused solely by his own lack of self-control. He attempts to justify his “brief burst of animosity” when he pushes Finny out of the tree by recounting how soldiers were killing fellow soldiers without any regard for human life. Phrases such as “shooting flames”, “grilling other people alive”, and “exploding into flame” embody Gene’s new violent personality. Throughout the novel, he has numerous other violent outbursts. For example, when Gene reports to his job as assistant senior crew manager, the head manager, Quackenbush insults him and Gene retaliates by starting a fist fight. Additionally, when Gene visits Leper after his return from the war, he becomes aggravated and kicks over Leper’s chair. The old Finny would never have exhibited violent outbursts such as these. The war-like diction embodies how violent the American society has become and how the circumstances have caused Gene to do things that he is not proud