Growing Up In John Knowles A Separate Peace

When Gene visits Leper at his home in Vermont, he discovers Leper’s mental instability and fears the same will happen to him in the future when he enlists in the army. Gene states, “I didn’t care what I said to him now; it was myself I was worried about. For if Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it to him, and I and all of us were on the brink of the army” (Knowles 135). Gene is now coming to the realization that war can have negative effects on those involved and is beginning to fear the war. Previously, just as the other boys, he has been shielded from the ugly truths of war by attending Devon, alien to the idea of the violence that it contains. Now, he has achieved a new understanding and has now created an informed opinion on war. This serves as a turning point for Gene because he is losing his innocence and discovering more about the war beyond the walls of

The boys at the Devon school, in the novel A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, are World War II influenced by making them mature and grow up more quickly than they would have had there not been a war. The war makes some boys stronger and more ready for whatever life would bring, while in others it disables them to the point that they cannot handle the demands of life. This novel shows a “coming-of age” story, especially with three boys. Gene starts out as a naïve and sensitive person but matures into a person more knowledgeable and capable of handling the challenges of life through his crisis experiences with of course, Phineas, Leper and, Brinker.

In this passage, Gene goes to visit his friend Leper, who deserted the army after suffering hallucinations. Gene listens to Lepers stories about his experience and realizes that his friend has become mentally unstable and begins to fear for himself and his friends at school who will join the army once the year is over. Gene also seems to fear for his old friend Leper who left school early in order to join the army, Gene feels that Leper is too unstable to be left alone and is afraid that Leper might harm himself. This passage is Intertextual as I learned from the book “5th Business” that soldiers who come back from war are never the same, both mentally and physically due to the harsh living conditions in the trenches and the constant sight of death. I wonder if Leper suffered from “shell shock”, a common mental disorder of war veterans. This also relates to “About a Boy” as Marcus begins to worry for his mother who becomes mentally unstable and attempts suicide, Will begins to fear that his mother will try again and is convinced that he cant leave her alone.

In the novel, Gene, Finny, Leper, and others fear enlisting for World War II after they graduate. Gene says that many of the teachers "loosened their grip" on the boys, knowing what lay ahead of them after they graduate. As the school year progressed, the boys anxiety increased. They all knew what was coming up, though none of them wanted to accept

A Separate Peace is a short novel about a group of high school boys that live during world war two but this story has deeper more complex meaning then that can be seen from the surface. In disguise of a “coming of age” story this novel contains very familiar biblical connections. These connections include the trial of Jesus, the fall of man from perfection, and the story of Cain and Abel. Knowles novel A Separate Peace contains biblical allegories, that become evident under a close examination.

A Separate Peace is a World War II setting book written by the author, John Knowles. A Separate Peace is an example of a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age  novel. One of the main characters, Gene Forrester, is a perfect example of someone who is coming-of-age. As the  novel progresses, Gene  is transformed and impacted by many different experiences during his time at Devon High School.  In the book, A Separate Peace, Gene  becomes mature from his experiences from Finny’s death and Training for the Olympics; He also loses his innocence, and this teaches the reader about growing up and the idea of losing innocence.

War is a destructive force whose nature is to destroy all things and change lives forever. It is a whirlpool that sucks everything in and is fueled by hatred and violence. Whether one is directly involved in the battlefield or waiting to see the outcome, war has the capacity to affect all people. It can harden one beyond their years and force them to grow, seeing conflicting sides of good and evil. A Separate Peace by John Knowles narrates the story of young boys growing up with World War II as the backdrop. The war impacts them dramatically and is constantly thought about as they are coming of the age since they will soon be enlisted. However, not only are they living during an era of war but are also struggling with the war inside of themselves as they search for the truth within. Knowles depicts the ability of war to affect teenage boys in Devon, an English preparatory school, and transform them from carefree boys to troubled young men in search of their own separate peace.

When Leper escapes from the military and goes home, the difference in him is almost opposite to his naturalistic and introverted ways during the Summer Session. When Leper and Gene got into an altercation, Leper was described as having a “blind confusion in his eyes again, a wild slyness around his mouth...Laughing and crying he lay with his head on the floor and his knees up (Knowles 213). Leper didn’t even have to speak in this example to show the damage being in the war has caused on him and how it has made him into an aggressive person. When Gene described Gene this way, it shows a very dark light, contrasting with the first impression we got of Leper in the first half of the novel. The most evident example of the loss of innocence in all of the novel is Leper and the way he talks about himself after coming home from the war and he brings up his disturbing hallucinations again. In the book, Leper says, talking about the images, “That’s what made me psycho… I don’t know. I guess they must be right. I guess I am psycho… I must be.” (Knowles 218) At this point, Knowles completely made a 180 on Leper, and almost created him in a new form; a new darker, and almost evil-sounding person. Leper was convinced that his hallucination were his fault, and because of that he was crazy. This is a loss of innocence for him because he isn’t the same person, he doesn’t oppose the war,

Many people think that it is easy to let go of the past, to move on, to let it all go, apologize to those you hurt, and forgive the people who have hurt you. But in reality, others would agree that it is definitely easier said than actually done. The book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, is about a boy, Gene Forrester, who is attending an all boy boarding school in New England during the beginning of World War 2. He battles to find his inner self while also battling with the hardships of having a best friend, Finny, who everyone adores and who is good at everything he does. This book is chalked full of events, dramatic as well as calm, between these two boys that happen during a particular summer. They not only find their inner selves and make a stronger bond, but they stretch the limits of their relationship and they lose the innocence of their world. Coming of age is a necessary, but often challenging stage of life which involves seeing oneself and the world as they truly are. Coming of age is the main theme of this book because the boys need to be able to grow and mature into the young adults that they need to become.

In his novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles demonstrates that, to achieve adulthood, one must lose innocence and acknowledge this loss.

and it couldn't be more true. Growing up is inevitable and is a epidemic people have been trying to battle for years, the

“But I no longer needed this vivid false identity . . . I felt, a sense of my own real authority and worth, I had many new experiences and I was growing up “(156). Gene’s self-identity battle ends and he finds his real self. Gene’s developing maturity is also shown when he tells the truth about Leper. His growing resentment against having to mislead people helps Gene become a better person. When Brinker asks about Leper, Gene wants to lie and tell him he is fine but his resentment is stronger than him. Instead Gene comes out and tells the truth that Leper has gone crazy. By pushing Finny out of the tree, crippling him for life and watching him die; Gene kills a part of his own character, his essential purity. Throughout the whole novel Gene strives to be Finny, but by the end he forms a character of his own. Gene looks into his own heart and realizes the evil. “. . . it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart” (201). He grasps that the creation of personal problems creates wars. Gene comes to acknowledge Finny’s uniqueness and his idealism and greatly admires his view of the world. He allows Finny’s influence to change him and eliminates the self-ignorance. At Finny’s funeral Gene feels that he buries a part of himself, his innocence. “I could not escape a feeling

The novel, A Separate Peace, presents the full human cycle (birth, death, rebirth—summer, fall, winter and spring) but focuses on the adolescent struggles of Gene Forrester in his years at a military prep school, Devon. Gene visits his alma mater after fifteen years have past, including a world war. This story is about youth, friendship, fear, tragedy and growing-up. Some of these themes in A Separate Peace reflect the biblical stories of the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel and Jesus Christ.

War can be a stressful time for people and families everywhere. At the current time in the book, world war II is happening. Gene and his friends learn about what is going on across the world. All the lives losses and all the tragedies. Its a difficult time to be a child. In times like that, the kids have to grow up and act serious. Gene and his friends mature quickly and want to help out in the war. Kids are maturing quickly in order to help the country.

A classic for generations, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is an acceptable novella for teenage students to read in their times of angst. Containing large amounts of symbolism and hidden themes, A Separate Peace is the perfect novel for one to discuss the underlying ideas that are included within.