A Separate Peace Literary Analysis

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From young to old, from weak to bold, the journey from youth to adulthood is as tough as it gets. War destroys and dismantles the lives of people all around the world. John Knowles writes a fascinating book, A Separate Peace with a protagonist who does not quite understand what the real life is. Gene, the protagonist, needs to learn how to face life and has to consider that there is life beyond school in which war is going on. Gene does not quite comprehend what it means that there is life away from school, he cannot wrap his mind around the fact that the disastrous and gruesome World War destroys lives. He has a hard time accepting the fact that his life in the future can never be what it has been until now.
A Separate Peace tells the story …show more content…
The greatest proof to this is that Gene tries always to follow the rules:“Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies....We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all”(54). This quote proves that Finny tried to wreck the studies with which Gene usually involved himself. Gene maintains a comfortable life, predictable and unthreatening. In Devon, obedient to the rules, Gene is safe, but he is unable to grow. Growth can only come about through conflict and struggle, and Gene's, being the way he is, is a shield against such challenges. The only one able to breaks through Gene's shield of conformity is Finny, always convincing him to experience the world more directly, by breaking the rules:“I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little”(25). With Finny, Gene explores a life without adult intervention. The freedom often gets Gene excited — the first jump from the tree brings him to a new awareness of life — but, of course, it nags at him. Finny's adventurous nature disturbs Gene's comfortable routine of study and proper
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