What Does The Water Symbolize In A Separate Peace

Many people have symbols in their lives that represent and remind them of times and memories throughout their lives, good or bad, such as your first ever pet or the first time you went on a plane. These symbols are scattered throughout our lives. What all these symbols have in common though is that despite them being good or bad they are all important and helped to make us the people that we are today. There are many of these symbols in the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowle. A Separate Peace is a book about friendship, betrayal, trust, and much more among boarding school students during World War II. The numerous symbols throughout help the reader to get a deeper understanding of the characters and further develop the story. The symbols

The second river that does this is the Naguamsett River but in a much darker tone and not-so-pleasant way. Gene truly mentions and describes the river after Finny’s great injury. Still getting used to doing things without Finny by his side as he goes to the Crew House which is based on the banks of the Naguamsett he describes it as “joined to the ocean, so that its movements were governed by unimaginable factors like the Gulf Stream, the Polar Ice Cap, and the moon...It was nothing like the fresh-water Devon” (Knowles 76). In saying this comparison of the rivers and how different they are Gene is in a way comparing his maturity and adulthood to his former innocence and childhood by using words such as “unimaginable” because he doesn't much about the things that control the Naguamsett river in the same way that he does not know much about being an adult and maturing. Later on, after having a rough interaction and ending up fighting with the crew team manager Cliff Quackenbush Gene talks about how he had to wash the Naguamsett rivers filth off of him he goes as far as to say “going into the Devon was like taking a refreshing shower itself… but the Naguamsett was something else entirely. I had never been in it before; it seemed appropriate that my baptism there had taken place on the

The tree is rather large, located on Devon Campus and some of its branches hang over the Devon river. The tree represents the carefree nature of youth and innocence. Gene and Finny and many other people all gather to hang out and play by the tree, often jumping from the tree into the river.At the very beginning of the novel during the first chapter the narrator Gene describes the tree's great stature by saying “The tree was tremendous” (Knowles 14). At the beginning of the novel, the tree serves as a symbol of freedom and the joy of youth. The tree is a place where Gene and Finny can be themselves and do as they please. It symbolizes the freedom and joy of youth, and it represents a time of innocence and simplicity. The tree is a place where the boys can escape the pressures of school and war and be carefree. However, as the story progresses the tree becomes more of a grim and darker symbol that helps to signify the darker tone of the novel. As Gene grows more and more jealous of Finny and thinks that finny is secretly his enemy acting as a friend. It leads to him making a decision he will regret for the rest of his life and that is to cause Finny's fall from the tree, which leads to his eventual death. This event marks the end of their carefree childhood and the beginning of Gene's journey toward maturity and understanding. The tree, which was once a symbol of freedom and joy, now