A Separate Peace

Similarities: Gene and Finny are both well-liked and popular at Devon. The other boys seem to gravitate towards Finny, and Gene becomes one of the school's most popular, successful members...

In A Separate Peace, Gene chooses to be an assistant crew manager for several reasons. 1. Gene is feeling sorry for himself and looks for a role that demonstrates his feeling. This is his senior...

The two rivers in the book are described in symbolic ways. The Devon School sits between two rivers, the Devon and the the Naguamsett. The Devon is described as a place of fun, and it is the river...

I think one good example of irony in the book is the name "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session." It is an ironic name because because Finny ends up dying as a result of the club's actions....

The marble staircase is located in the First Academy Building on the campus of the Devon School. Gene describes it as having a red brick exterior, swinging doors, and a marble foyer preceding the...

During a conversation between Gene and Brinker, Brinker mentions that his father's generation is responsible for causing the war that his generation is forced to fight. Gene mentions that he has...

The Butt Room episode in A Separate Peace exposes the conflicting feelings Gene is carrying regarding his actions at the jumping tree. As Gene fights to maintain his innocence, he is also forced to...

Beginning in chapter 6, Knowles writes, "Peace had deserted Devon," as the Winter Session begins with five of the younger teachers missing because they had left for war (35). The boys also notice...

I'm assuming you've read the novel, so my references to events will be just that--short, quick references. The frame (beginning and end) - Gene comes back to Devon school and re-examines the events...

In addition to establishing the "momentary, illusory, special and separate peace" for the boys with the Winter Carnival, Phineas, for the first time since his accident, becomes active again and...

In Chapter 8, Finny tells Gene that the "war stuff" is a myth. He states that American is not truly "in a state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan." He claims, "there isn't any war." So,...

Throughout the novel, Knowles examines self-esteem issues, jealousy, and the duality of human nature. Although Gene is fascinated and drawn towards Finny, his lack of self-esteem leads to feelings...

Knowles alludes to Ernest Hemingway with the term a 'separate peace' . Hemingway, in several places, wrote of characters trying to escape from the larger society and build their own worlds, places...

Gene does not cry at Phineas's funeral because he feels it is his own, and you don't, he says, cry at your own funeral. He experiences it as his own funeral because Finny felt like a part of...

The tree is the central symbol in the novel. It represents the enormous fear in which Gene lived at school, from the summer of 1942 until the spring of 1943. When he was a student at Devon, the...

In Chapter 3 of A Separate Peace, Gene narrates that Finny's life is regulated by "inspiration and anarchy." Despite this anarchy, Finny does value a set of rules—his own. Gene notes that Finny...

Gene is competitive. We see his competitive drive early on in the novel as he strives to outdo Finny in any way he can. This proves difficult in most areas as Finny is a lively, funny, charming and...

Phineas breakes the 100 Yard Free Style record for the Devon school which had previously been set by A. Hopkins Parker in 1940 at fifty-three seconds (42). Finny shaves off .7 of a second when he...

This quote from A Separate Peace is from Chapter 7, when Brinker says he’s going to enlist in the war, and Gene becomes excited. He’s been thinking about enlisting but only in the dark recesses of...

A key to a good thesis statement is that it makes an argument. Once the thesis is stated, then the paper's responsibility is to prove with evidence from the text that the thesis is true. I usually...

This quote appears in chapter 1, right before Gene begins telling the events that occurred at the school. Prior to the quote, Gene is wandering over the grounds at Devon school. He mentally makes...

This comes as Gene's final reflection on his relationship with Finny and his time at Devon. His stream-of-consciousness shows his internal censorship, and his attempt to come to terms with his...

The last line of A Separate Peace is as follows: All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the...

I think that the significance of the summer session is best viewed symbolically in contrast to the winter session. The summer session is a much slower pace of things for the boys on the Devon...

At the end of chapter 3, Finny tells Gene that he is his best friend after a fun, exhilarating day at the beach. Instead of responding to Finny's comment, Gene thinks to himself, I should have...

Three factors that explain the change of mood between the summer and fall sessions are as follows: First, Gene describes himself and his Devon summer school friends as in a liminal space of "shaky...

Gene finds comfort in putting on Finny's clothes because for a little while he can be someone other than himself. Because of Gene's guilt and self-loathing, just being himself is painful. Finny is...

When Quackenbush accuses him of being maimed, Gene reacts by hitting him hard across the face. At first Gene doesn't know why he is reacting like this, and he thinks, "it was almost as though (he,...

Sports are a point of contention in Gene and Finny's relationship. Gene continually describes Finny's incredible physical prowess, in addition to naming various trophies Finny has won for his...

Whether or not Finny actually believes what he says is up for individual reader debate; however, what Finny says out loud is that there isn't any war. He says that it is being faked. He stood up,...

Finny has an interesting assortment of prizes to be given out at the Winter Carnival. These include "Finny's icebox, hidden all these months in the dormitory basement, a Webster's Collegiate...

In this quote, Gene is pondering the events that occurred during those crucial years at Devon school, and pairing it with his more mature knowledge of war and people that he has gained throughout...

The doctor's remark about "facing things" is significant because, in the story, it has to do with so much more than just the fact that Finny will no longer be able to play sports. Not only will...

Knowles uses the literary device of antithesis, or the placing together of opposites, in the opening lines of chapter 3: Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for...

Gene is indirectly responsible for Finny's tragic death and acknowledges his role at the end of the story. Although Finny is a completely innocent, selfless individual, Gene is extremely insecure...

Chapter 3 of A Separate Peace is a clear foreshadowing of the rift (and worse) which is to come between Gene and Finny. The two of them have sneaked off the beach for the day, and it turns into a...

Leper is different from most of the other boys because Leper could best be described as a naturalist and/or idealist. He is a peaceful and quiet kid that enjoys spending time in nature and...

Mood references the feelings, the emotions, that a text evokes in readers. We use adjectives such as cheerful, chaotic, and pessimistic to describe the feel of the passage. Weather often affects...

Finny is a charismatic, spontaneous individual, who is willing to completely disregard rules, regulations, and directives from authority figures in order to have fun. Finny is an independent...

The passage you're referring to reads as follows: So the war swept over like a wave at the seashore, gathering power and size as it bore on us, overwhelming in its rush, seemingly inescapable, and...

In chapter eight, the romanticizing Gene writes: So the war swept over like a wave at the seashore, gathering power and size as it bore on us, overwhelming in its rush, seemingly inescapable . ....

This quote can apply to Finny because it corresponds to his dramatic decline after severely breaking his leg toward the beginning of the novel. Before Gene purposely knocks Finny off the tree...

Finny's invented game of blitzball involves a ball carrier, who has to dodge everyone attempting to knock him down as he runs toward the river or tower. Gene mentions that the odds were...

Finny's second accident occurs as he rushes out of the Assembly Room where Brinker has organized a mock trial for the purpose of investigating Finny's first accident. Distraught over the...

Leper is lured into enlisting in the army after seeing a misleading recruitment film, not realizing that he is totally unsuited for military service until it is too late. He is traumatized by the...

Finny returns to Devon and quickly demonstrates that his personality hasn't been impacted at all by his injury. He is energetic, irreverant, and full of conversation about everything that interests...