The primary setting of A Separate Peace is at the Devon School. The exact location of this school is not known in terms of a state, but it is identified as being in the South, sitting between a freshwater and a saltwater stream. The bulk of the story takes place in the years of 1942 through 1944 at the same time as World War II, but the beginning and end of the book consist of Gene looking back on his years at the Devon School 15 years after he had attended it.

A Separate Peace considers two conflicts: man against man and man against himself. Early in the story Gene believes that his problems lie within his best friend Phineas (Finny), but later he realizes that his conflict is internal. Misplaced jealousy, fear, love and hate fi

Gene Forrester goes through the ages of 16, 17, and 18 during the course of the story he tells. He is of athletic build and is five feet 8½ inches tall. He is the same height as Finny, but Gene weighs 140 pounds where Finny weighs 10 pounds more giving him a more athletic build. Gene is very intelligent and is at the top of his class. He is constantly striving to outclass everyone in his schoolwork, especially Brinker Hadley the charismatic class politician. Gene has trouble displaying emotion though. This can be seen when he and Finny have a heart to heart talk on the beach one evening. Finny tells him that Gene is his best friend in a tender show of emotion. Gene feels the same way, however he falls asleep without saying a word in reply. Gene is also very sarcastic which relates to his inability to show emotion. He can't express the feelings that he wants to, so he ends up coming across as cold and bitter sometimes. He tells sarcastic jokes and makes caustic remarks until he realizes that sarcasm is one of the marks of being emotionally weak.

In the resolution of the story Finny dies a death that is indirectly caused by his best friend. When the doctor re-sets his twice-broken leg, some of the marrow in Finny's bone gets into his blood stream and stops his heart. Gene is remorseful, but always keeps Finny a part of him and adopts some of Finny's personality traits. Gene goes to war, but he realizes that the real war was fought during his years at the Devon School. His enemy had been killed there. His war had ended before he ever put on a uniform.

ght for control of Gene's actions. When the dark side of him wins for a brief moment and he pushes Finny out

Some topics in this essay:
Separate Peace, Gene Finny, Brinker Hadley, Phineas Finny, Devon School, Finny Gene, Gene Forrester, Exeter Academy, Forrester Knowles', Maginot Lines, separate peace, devon school, real experiences, jealousy fear, gene forrester, own feelings, gene looking, real life, athletic build, realizes conflict,