... evolved if it were not for war. Both Gene and Finny experienced an inner and outer war. Internally the protagonists are searching for their own separate peace, and that is found At Devon Prep. School. There they are safe from the harsh external around them. Unfortunately the war becomes a reality when ... evolved if it were not for war. Both Gene and Finny experienced an inner and outer war. Internally the protagonists are searching for their own separate peace, and that is found At Devon Prep. School. There they are safe from the harsh external around them. Unfortunately the war become...

• Word Count: 65255
• Approx Pages: 261
• Grade Level: High School

... destructive forces of war. The characters, Gene and Finny, are the opposing forces in a struggle between the reality of war (World War II) and a separate peace. A peace away from the real war and the awful things that come from it. Through their relationship, which is a struggle on both sides, Knowles establishes the ... , including the people, who are always either leaving or on leave." (Knowles, 32) This is what Gene stands for in the book A Separate Peace. Gene appears to understand the reality of war and how it affects people. Throughout the entire story Gene is used to bring the des...

• Word Count: 2418
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... the only boy that doesn't have this problem. Finny refused to have hatred, or an enemy. He denied that the war existed because he didn't have enmity. Finny found his separate peace within his denial. Gene later told him that he could never be a soldier because he didn't understand what having an enemy was all about. The war didn't really enter their ... . In addition, Gene and Finny shared the same dreams of the Olympics still going on as planned, and that there is no war. This is where Gene and Finny find a separate peace. They felt safe and secure when they knew that the Olympics would...

• Word Count: 687
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... detailed architecture. The trees and buildings create a class of respectable grandeur. One can almost feel the hardness marble staircases and the intricateness of the wooden detailing. Devon is the boys' separate peace, because it is a world away from the war, where only radios and newspapers tell wartime stories. Finney says that there is no war, that everything is staged. This causes ... was far from the truth. I believe that had the characters lived in another part of America during World War Two, they would have matured into slightly different men. Writer's Style A Separate Peace is a...

• Word Count: 3096
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... . Knowles' novel tells the somber story of a young man's struggle to escape from himself and his world; to achieve a special and separate peace. 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 ... 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. A Separate Peace deals with themes of envy, violence, and hatred, but the overall theme is stated on page six; "The more things remai...

• Word Count: 1130
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... . Knowles' novel tells the somber story of a young man's struggle to escape from himself and his world; to achieve a special and separate peace. 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 ... 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. A Separate Peace deals with themes of envy, violence, and hatred, but the overall theme is stated on page six; "The more things remai...

• Word Count: 1113
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , Gene, the main character, recollects his experiences at Devon School where he was a student some fifteen years prior. I feel that the novel A Separate Peace is truly focused on two wars. One war is the internal struggle that Gene faces daily, the battle within himself in his mind. The other war ... the path to adulthood. World War II functions as a background of the novel. I think it is interesting that John Knowles named his novel A Separate Peace. "A separate peace" refers to the Devon School that Gene attends. Although in a secluded New England atmosphere, it is obvious that even th...

• Word Count: 605
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Similarities Between "Nothing Gold Can Stay" and "A Separate Piece" The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles and the poem titled " Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost are both very interesting and similar pieces of literature. Both of these authors explore ... life would be boring and people would not have to deal with things that actually require action and thinking. A Separate Peace and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" are very similar and show the same message that not everything is perfect. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles the story is told through the perspective of Gene, the main ch...

• Word Count: 682
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

A "Separate Peace" (published in 1960) takes place during the Second World War in a New England Prep School called Devon (based ... the author John Knowles gives a good understanding of the war. The main characters Gene and Finny are always struggling between the "separate peace" and the real war. Even thought the story doesn't take place in a war battlefield, it just takes place in school. The war in Europe ... took away the peace from the boys, affected them, and influenced them to be ready for what was coming to them. The war encouraged Finny and ... way. Finny was affected by the war th...

• Word Count: 686
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... drives. Many psychologists believe the unconscious mind to be made of drives for power, love and other impulses. In John Knowles's novel, "A Separate Peace", characters undergo dramatic transformations. The Id, Ego, and Superego are the three components of human personality and psyche. In the novel, these three ... part of human psyche which lies mostly under the conscious state of mind. It is often driven by the reality principle. In the novel, a separate peace, Gene lives a structured life. He tends to follow the school rules, however finds himself under the influence of Finny. "I los...

• Word Count: 1288
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

War touches everyone in some way; however, very few prefer to describe their involvement with it; yet John Knowles, the writer of A Separate Peace, touches upon many themes involving war. Knowles displays these themes and attitudes of war in his book, A Separate Peace. These attitudes are best displayed through the characterization of the main characters - Gene, Finny, and Leper. Leper is the least important of ... must struggle against to destroy. Because Gene's views most closely reflect Knowles" views of war, they are the most important of all the attitudes of war that are included in A Se...

• Word Count: 1091
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

John Knowles's A Separate Peace was a wonderful story about friendship and life. This novel was a great book to read during the summer before starting at a new school. I thought it was creative the way Knowles uses a ... to him. I could see that he had memories of sadness and of happiness there. This was a great way to grab the reader attention quickly. I didn't really have a "favorite part" of A Separate Peace, nor did I have a favorite character. I did think one character was more like me than any other. I believe that I am like Gene. School work is very important to me and I always ... , ...

• Word Count: 358
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

Life's contrasts are something dealt with everyday. They build character and bring out who people really are. In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Gene and Finny are the two teenage boys that are the main characters. The book takes place at a prep school in New Hampshire ... was one of the best in the class and he always tried to put his studies first. Obviously this was quite a contrast. Furthermore the Devon School had two separate sessions. The book began in the summer and continued through the winter. They were two very different times at the school. During the summer session s...

• Word Count: 908
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

In John Knowle's A Seperate Peace, the main characters, Gene and Finny have a unique friendship that transforms throughout chapter four. According to Webter's dictionary the word "friendly" means not hostile; amicable. One could assume that a friend ... and nerdy, into a person that has hallucinations and sees things change form. Most of the other students at Devon turn from being conformists into more rebellious students. In the book A Separate Peace, the main characters Finny and Gene transform into different people by the end of the book. Transformation is a main theme in the book and it ...

• Word Count: 1458
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In John Knowles' novel, "A Separate Peace," Finny acts as a leader by being persuasive, outgoing, and caring. As most leaders do, Finny cares for the other boys and especially for Gene. With Finny always portrayed as an ... how caring and compassionate he can be, never letting anyone, down he believes everyone deserves to be a winner and that the world around him is perfect. Throughout John Knowles' novel A Separate Peace, persuasiveness, outgoing, and caring attitude, confirm Finny's many leadership abilities. Finny proves to be persuasive by commanding the other boys to do as he wishes whi...

• Word Count: 821
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... conflicts both internal and external plague Gene until the very end. It is these conflicts that lead to the creation of an enemy that Gene is at war with throughout A Separate Peace. This enemy is Gene himself. The first time the enemy within Gene gets the best of him, it causes him to hurt his best friend. When Gene and Finny create ... ...

• Word Count: 558
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In times of war, people and societies change to adapt to the lifestyle war brings with it. In John Knowles" A Separate Peace the characters must adapt to the lifestyle brought forth by World War II. Some make it through these times better than others and some just don't make it at all. ... him to fall and injure himself. Gene, therefore, is the fittest because he realized his competition for the "fittest" and eliminated it. After all, how many of the characters of A Separate Peace are alive and sane besides Gene? Due to the war and how it causes people to adapt Gene and Phineas were in compe...

• Word Count: 466
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... at Devon between Gene and Finny plays a vital part in the novel. In "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles the trial between Gene and Finny brings out many conflicts between them and Finny faces his own conflicts when hearing the facts given at the time. I think ... ...

• Word Count: 538
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... characters and the reader. John Knowles develops a relationship of disgust between the narrator, Gene and the reader as well as creating a strong relationship between Phineas and the reader. While reading "A Separate Peace", I developed my own opinion of Gene and Phineas through their choices, character traits, flaws, and sympathy and by hearing Gene as he tells the story in first person. The author ... ...

• Word Count: 622
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In John Knowle's A Seperate Peace , the main characters, Gene and Finny have a unique friendship that transforms throughout chapter four. According to Webter's dictionary the wordfriendly? means not hostile; amicable. One could assume that a friend would ... and nerdy, into a person that has hallucinations and sees things change form. Most of the other students at Devon turn from being conformists into more rebellious students. In the book A Separate Peace, the main characters Finny and Gene transform into different people by the end of the book. Transformation is a main theme in the book a...

• Word Count: 1475
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

A Separate Peace By John Knowles (late 1950s) This story takes place at Devon School in New Hampshire , when one of the main characters gene flashes back fifteen years to tell the adventures ... with his friend.Gene didn't notice that Finny meant so much to him until the day he died. But, he still appreciated his friend for all he was, and made peace with him even though he was dead. His guilt followed him everywhere he went. Gene knew deep in his mind that he was guilty for what happened to Finny but ... ...

• Word Count: 618
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

"A Separate Peace," takes place during wartime and at Devon's prep school for boys. Gene and Finny are best friends as well as the main characters portrayed in the novel. The school ... to himself that, "Exposing a sincere emotion nakedly like that at the Devon School was the next thing to suicide," (Knowles 48). Therefore this trip let Finny have some peace within him, that he couldn't have at Devon by escaping reality through a trip away. One of the last times that Finny and Gene were able to escape the world was ... ...

• Word Count: 833
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the story A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the two most emphasized characters are very alike. Although their similarities are sometimes over looked. Phineas, like Gene, is a very caring person. Both of these teenagers care ... ...

• Word Count: 254
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

In John Knowles' A Separate Peace, Finny fits the classification of a tragic hero wonderfully. The character named Finny is courageous and bold, just as a tragic hero should be. One of the greatest philosophers of all time, ... ...

• Word Count: 737
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... seasons, snow envelops its surroundings, blanketing the earth with a milky white blanket. This blanket is beautiful yet it's also deceiving in how it shrouds objects from view. In John Knowles" A Separate Peace, the deceptive environment symbolizes the sly and mysterious nature that Gene displays. The mysterious nature of Gene towards his fellow peers and the deceiving nature of the Vermont landscape are ... ...

• Word Count: 644
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate