A Separate Peace (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Knowles
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Psychological naturalism
- Time of Work: Summer and fall, 1942, and 1957
- Setting: The Devon School, a boys’ prep school in New Hampshire, and Boston
- Principal Characters: Gene Forrester, Phineas (Finny), Brinker Hadley, Elwin Lepellier (Leper)
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Bildungsroman, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: 1950’s, Maturation or coming of age, Values, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, 1940’s, World War II, Friendship, Guilt, New England, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Fear, Upper classes, Accidents, Death or dying, Boston, Human behavior, Athletes, Students or student life, Private schools
- Locales: Boston, MA, New Hampshire
The Novel
The entire story of A Separate Peace is narrated by the main character, Gene Forrester. Every action in the novel is presented through his eyes, as Forrester looks back upon the summer and fall of 1942 from the perspective of 1957. Gene Forrester, therefore, is a thirty-one-year-old man looking back at the year 1942, when he was sixteen years old at the Devon School.
Gene Forrester has come to Devon from the South, although Knowles never specifically identifies Forrester’s home state. At Devon, Forrester is exposed to a distinctly New England...
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See Also:
See Also:
- - For teachers, the A Separate Peace Lesson Plan.
- - A Separate Peace summary and study guide in the eNotes.
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