The Theme Of Identity In A Separate Peace By John Knowles

In the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles conveys to the reader the theme of identity through each character’s hardships during the WWII era. The protagonist, Gene Forrester, displays his own struggle for identity during his adolescence in which he attended the Devon School. Leper is another character who dealt with the same issues as shown through his mental breakdown when faced with the rigors of basic training. Even Finny the charismatic leader that all the boys admired began to experience his own identity crisis after he broke his leg and could no longer play sports. The author uses characters with varying personalities to show anyone can have problems with finding their true selves. Gene had a wide range of actions that displayed his

He is introduced as a loner that enjoys to be in the outdoors. Leper also seems to not like to participate in competitive environments as shown when the ball was passed to him during blitzball he wanted no part of the game. So whenever he enlisted in the army everyone was shocked because such an action seemed to be the opposite of something he would do. One might think that in his own process of becoming an adult Leper felt pressured to change who he was from the pressure of recruiters constantly visiting the school and the war time morale. Then whenever Elwin reached basic training he was out of his comfort zone that he relied upon so heavily he had a mental breakdown because he realized this was not who he wanted to be and was never the same after

And now I’m not sure, not a hundred percent sure I’ll be completely, you know, in shape by 1944. So I’m going to coach you for them instead.” Since he could no longer be who he wanted to be Finny began to try and live through his friend Gene by having him train for the olympics in his place. This attempt to leave his own identity of being crippled only worked due to Gene’s willingness to do anything for his friend out of a feeling of guilt for causing the fall. Even the people who seem to be the wisest can struggle with these