Free Essays on A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace - Gene's Journey Gene Forrester's difficult journey towards maturity and the adult world is a main focus of the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Gene's journey begins the moment he pushes Phineas from the tree and the process continues until he visits the tree fifteen years later. Throughout this time, Gene must become self-aware, face reality and the future, confront his problems, as well as forgive and accept the person that he is. With the jouncing of the limb, Gene realizes his problems and the true person he is inside. Fifteen years later, when revisiting the tree, he finally accepts and forgives himself. This journey is a long and painful one. At the end of this long and winding road filled with ditches, difficulties and problems, Gene emerges a mature adult. Gene jounces the limb and causes Finny's fall and at that moment becomes aware of his inner-self and learns of his true feelings. This revelation comes to him back in his room before he and Finny leave for the tree. It surrounds him with the shock of his true self until he finally reacts by jouncing the limb. Up in the tree, before the two friends are about to make their "double-jump", Gene sees Finny in this new light. He realizes that Finny feels no jealousy or hatred towards him and that Finny is indeed perfect in every way. Gene becomes aware that only he is the jealous one. He learns of his animosity and that he really is a "savage underneath". Over a long period of time Gene had been denying his feelings of hatred towards Finny, saying that it was normal for him to feel this way. Now all of the feelings come back to him and he sees how terrible he really is. The realization that these feelings are one-sided causes Gene to to fall dramatically in comparison to Finny (he paints himself black for these feelings and because Finny doesn't share them, he puts a halo around Finny's head)... Free Essays on A Separate Peace Free Essays on A Separate Peace From Innocence To Experience The novel â€Å"a Separate Peace† is greatly dedicated to the adolescent years of ones life. For the duration of these often confusing year’s people make catastrophic mistakes. These gaffes are primarily believed to be vast setbacks in our lives yet ultimately improve ourselves and give us a better understanding of who we are. The characters in this book are used to exemplify this. Elwin Lepellier, a.k.a leper, is a character in â€Å"a Separate Peace† who underwent adolescent changes. Quiet and shy; leper is most comfortable when by himself and takes pleasure in exploring the world solo, as he does when he skis to the beaver dam. He maybe a loner because he breaks down under pressure, which often times embarrasses him. When provoked by Finny to jump from the tree he froze. When the ball was pitched to him during a game of blitzball he refuses it. When faced with the strenuous basic training encountered in the army, leper suffers from a mental breakdown and flees from the army. This is the catalyst, which causes a change in leper. His breakdown blurs his reasoning but at the same time sharpens his insight. This is made clear by his accusatory remarks towards Gene about â€Å"the incident† and the surprisingly powerful testimony at the mock trial. It is leper’s testimony that sends Finny to his indirect death. The main character in the book, Gene Forrester, has the most apparent change in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Gene’s innocence represents a childlike contentment in conformity. Gene is able to attain a comfortable, predictable, unthreatening lifestyle through hard work and following the rules. Finny defies Gene’s former lifestyle and challenges him to experience life and resist rules. With Finny, Gene embarks on a new life liberated from humdrum routines imposed on him by adults. This new friend has yanked Gene out of his former self into an unbounded world which... Free Essays on A Separate Peace At the end of A Separate Peace, Gene reflects back on everything that happened and says â€Å"My war ended before I even put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.† He, of course, does not mean this in a literal sense; he was not actually on active duty during school. Because the only person he kills (although indirectly) is Phineas, the statement â€Å"I killed my enemy there† might at first lead you to believe that Phineas is the â€Å"enemy† about whom Gene is talking. It is, however, more likely that Gene’s enemy was himself. His war was not the same one that engulfed the world around him, but rather the conflict between his easygoing personality and the darker part of him lurking just under the surface. One can tell that the â€Å"enemy† is not Phineas from the enormous amount of praise Gene heaps upon him after his death. â€Å"He possessed an extra vigor, a heightened confidence in himself, a serene capacity for affection†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"Finny had a vitality which could not be quenched so suddenly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  are some of the ways Gene describes his best friend after his death. The enemy Gene â€Å"killed† was not Phineas – the only person whose death he was actually involved in – therefore he must have meant â€Å"I killed my enemy† figuratively rather than literally. This â€Å"enemy†, then, is the dark side of his human nature, which exists in everybody but comes out extremely strongly in Gene. He does indeed defeat, or â€Å"kill†, this enemy. He recognizes that Phineas never had any malicious intent towards him and that he was merely projecting his own insecurities into his friend. He also realizes that he did somet hing unthinkable (crippling Phineas, who could use his mobility like no other), feels incredible remorse, and he overcomes the darker side of himself. In Gene’s own words: â€Å"†¦Phineas created an atmosphere in which I continued now to live.† Gene’s â€Å"war† was the conflict... Free Essays on A Separate Peace A Separate Peace - Gene's Journey Gene Forrester’s in the novel A Separate Pace had a difficult journey towards maturity and the adult world is a main focus of the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Gene's journey begins the moment he pushes Phineas from the tree and the process continues until he had visited the tree fifteen years later after he jerked it when Finny fell and broke his leg. Throughout this time, Gene had to become more self-centered and face reality and the future, confront his problems, as well as forgive and accept the person that he is. With the jerking of the limb, Gene realizes his problems and the true person he was inside. Then fifteen years later, when he had revisited the tree, he finally accepts and forgives himself. This journey was a long and painful one. At the end of this long and winding road filled with ditches, difficulties and Gene jerks the limb while Finny is getting ready to jumb and causes Finny's fall and at that moment becomes aware of his inner-self and learns of his true feelings. This discovery came to him back in his room before he and Finny leave for the tree. It surrounds him with the shock of his true self until he finally reacts by jerking the limb. Up in the tree, before the two friends are about to make their "double-jump," Gene sees Finny in this new light. He realizes that Finny feels no jealousy or hatred towards him and that Finny is indeed is perfect in every way. Gene becomes aware that only he is the jealous one. He learns of his animosity and that he really is a "savage underneath." Over a long period of time Gene had been denying his feelings of hatred towards Finny, saying that it was normal for him to feel this way. Now all of the feelings come back to him and he sees how terrible he really is. The awareness that these feelings are one-sided causes Gene to jerk the l... Free Essays on A Separate Peace A Separate Peace - Gene's Journey Gene Forrester's difficult journey towards maturity and the adult world is a main focus of the novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Gene's journey begins the moment he pushes Phineas from the tree and the process continues until he visits the tree fifteen years later. Throughout this time, Gene must become self-aware, face reality and the future, confront his problems, as well as forgive and accept the person that he is. With the jouncing of the limb, Gene realizes his problems and the true person he is inside. Fifteen years later, when revisiting the tree, he finally accepts and forgives himself. This journey is a long and painful one. At the end of this long and winding road filled with ditches, difficulties and problems, Gene emerges a mature adult. Gene jounces the limb and causes Finny's fall and at that moment becomes aware of his inner-self and learns of his true feelings. This revelation comes to him back in his room before he and Finny leave for the tree. It surrounds him with the shock of his true self until he finally reacts by jouncing the limb. Up in the tree, before the two friends are about to make their "double-jump", Gene sees Finny in this new light. He realizes that Finny feels no jealousy or hatred towards him and that Finny is indeed perfect in every way. Gene becomes aware that only he is the jealous one. He learns of his animosity and that he really is a "savage underneath". Over a long period of time Gene had been denying his feelings of hatred towards Finny, saying that it was normal for him to feel this way. Now all of the feelings come back to him and he sees how terrible he really is. The realization that these feelings are one-sided causes Gene to to fall dramatically in comparison to Finny (he paints himself black for these feelings and because Finny doesn't share them, he puts a halo around Finny's head)... Free Essays on A Separate Peace The title of Knowles book A Separate Peace was both a literal and symbolic meanings. In the title the reader sees the teenagers as not really participating in World War II. The symbolic meanings of the title show that although they are in school the war has had a profound effect on them. The title is significant and has symbolic and literal meanings. The title of the book A Separate Peace is very significant to the story line. I think it tie the story of two young men together very well. They symbolize World War II and how people were fighting over different racial matter and what people religious back rounds were. If the book had a different title I think it would make us look at the book from different perspectives and it helps tell us how everyone was separate in the World. It also shows how a war doesn’t have to be something big; it could be the battle of a friend ship and how hard it is not to be jealous of someone when they are so different from you. This Quote will show how jealous Gene really is â€Å"Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step towered him, and them my keens bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then tumbled sideways, broke threw the little branches and hit the bank with a sickening unnatural thud.â €  The symbolic meaning of the tile is that represents Gene and Finny and how it relates to World War II. Was that two different haves (Gene a smart and none athletic boy and Finny leader not a follower, was very athletic and did not like to follow rules), Gene was jealous at Finny and how he was so good at spots and was always the winner. This was like the World War II it all started because of one man who did not like the Jews because they were different and at that time in Germany were doing better than most of the society. So they tried to kill them all and make it seem like it was ok. I think this is jus...