Persuasive Essay On A Separate Peace

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“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to humanity.” John F. Kennedy knew that when humanity wages war with itself, they lose what makes them humane. They dehumanize each other and in return they are blinded by fear and hatred. They abandon their compassion, empathy and mercy for selfish reasons. War is often considered to be a crime against humanity, for when they abandon that which makes them humane, they harm all things of good and peace. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, characters Finny, Leper and Gene are all wounded literally or figuratively by some war waged against them. They are victims of an enemy who lost their humanity in the midst of anger, and rather than result to conflicts with peace and reasoning, resulted …show more content…
“Now I knew that there never was and never could have been and rivalry between us. I was nor as the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand it” (Knowles 59). Gene recognizes a key difference in his and Finny’s friendship: their opposing senses of humanity. Finny wants nothing more than peace and happiness in their relationship while Gene, filled with envy and rage, wants nothing more than to destroy it. Because of these feelings, Gene physically harms Finny, a wound from which Finny suffers greatly. He is handicapped for several months, cannot play sports and is too disabled to enlist in the war. Not only is Finny physically wounded but he is also wounded by the betrayal and therefore does not really trust Gene. He says “’I did have this idea, this feeling that when you were standing there beside me, y- I don’t know, I had a kind of feeling’” (Knowles 66). Finny suspects the betrayal, even after he admits “’it was a crazy idea’” (Knowles 66). Just as Finny is wounded by Gene’s inhumane actions, humanity is also wounded similarly during wartime. In such savage times, there is anger, fear and self-interest that causes them to abandon what makes them humane and as a result, humanity suffers as Finny
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