Dec 29, 2009

A Separate Peace | Historical Context

American Feelings about War
Although first published in 1959 in England, A Separate Peace is about an earlier period, specifically the early 1940s when United States had declared its involvement in World War II. It must be remembered that World War II brought out enormous patriotism in most Americans, whether they were actually working in war-related jobs, engaged in combat, or neither. While intelligent adolescents such as Gene Forrester and Hadley Brinker in A Separate Peace might have mixed feelings about being drafted or enlisting in the war, shirking...