The Loss of Personal Identity: An Exploration of the Loss of Identity to a Singular Person or Group of People in John Knowles’ A Separate Peace and George Orwell’s 1984
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A person's whole intellectual make-up bears the clear imprint of the life of society as a whole. All his practical activities are individual expressions of the historically formed social practice of humanity”. In both 1984 and A Separate Peace, the two classic novels explore how society and the people in our lives mold or affect our personal identity. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the concept of loss of individuality is shown between the relationship between the two main characters, Gene and Finny. Gene throughout the novel shows a deep connection with Finny, and often sacrafices his own beliefs and ideas to surrender to Finny’s agenda. “What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me”? (John Knowles, Page 17). Through this one…show more content… Out of the FOG also described the aspects to diagnose DPD, which some traits Gene has shown throughout the book such as having difficulty making everyday decisions without an excessive amount of advice and reassurance from others, having difficulty expressing disagreement with others because of fear of loss of support or approval and going to excessive lengths to obtain nurturance and support from others, to the point of volunteering to do things that are unpleasant. This is an individuality disorder that applies to the traits and actions shown by Gene in terms of loss of individuality to Phineas due to the relationship between the two
