A   Separate   Peace

A Separate Peace starts out with Gene Forrester returning to the boarding school that he had attended 15 years before. In 1942, Gene had been a 16 year old attending Devon School during the Summer Session. In 1958 when he returns at the age of 31, he is overwhelmed with memories. Memories of the friendships, memories of the adventures, and memories of the tragedies are suddenly revived. Gene feels it is essential to visit the First Academy Building and the tree. This foreshadows the importance of both locations. After viewing both from an adult perspective, Gene, as a narrator, then begins a flashback that tells the story of his summer session as he viewed it at the age of 16.

We soon meet Phineas, or Finny, who is the main character and hero of the story. Finny is athletic, funny, witty, and is a leader. Finny’s athletic ability comes effortlessly to him and is a part of his essence. His sense of humor and wit allow him to escape punishment when he breaks the rules. He seems to not follow the rules of society unless they happen to be in agreement with what he wants to do. He does however have his own set of rules that he goes by. As a leader he challenges others, especially Gene, which ultimately leads to Finny’s downfall.

As outgoing as Finny is, Gene seems to be the opposite: shy, retiring, modest, and academically inclined. Their friendship is the central theme of the novel. It develops into one of the main conflicts also. The turning point of the novel is when Gene fails a test because Finny talked him into spending the night on the beach instead of studying. Gene becomes convinced that Finny intentionally is trying to sabotage his chances to be an outstanding student. Gene persuades himself of this so he tries harder and succeeds even with Finny’s distractions.

Many of Finny’s distractions come about because of his desire for control. Finny is in control at the headmaster’s tea, in challenging the boys to jump out of the tree, by saving Gene who almost falls from the tree, and in blitzball where he makes up the rules as he goes along. Not only do these activities provide control for Finny, by Finny being in control they also provide the other boys with a sense of freedom from the cares and worries of school life.

The novel follows the boys through their daily summertime routines. We see the relaxed way the rules are enforced during this peaceful summer session and we see how easy it is to break them. Finny again induces Gene to miss studying in order to attend a meeting of the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. This time Gene seems to have another plan when he attends. When Finny is out on the limb, Gene “jounces the branch”, just enough to send Finny tumbling backward onto the riverbank, breaking his leg.

This pivotal incident changes the course of not only Finny’s life but of Gene’s also. Finny’s broken leg was “messy”, which effectively put an end to Finny’s athletic dreams. Finny is sent home where Gene visits him on the way back for the fall term. At this point Gene tries to confess to Finny about the accident but Finny won't accept his confession. One of Finny’s rules is “Never accuse a friend of a crime if you only have a feeling he did it.” Gene still must live with his guilt.

The fall term begins without Phineas. Gene has no roommate. Gene doesn’t want to have anything to do with sports so he tries to become an assistant crew manager. He fails, it is as if without Finny, Gene is lost. It is at this time that we become aware of the others as characters. “Leper” Lepellieris an eccentric, withdrawn, nature lover who skis into the hills looking for a beaver dam. Brinker Hadley is the class politician who vies for Gene’s attention. Cliff Quackenbush is the manager of the crew team and would give Gene a hard time with very little reason. These characters become a more important part of the novel after the accident. Gene now struggles with the remaining stories of the accident and the suspicions of the others. Brinker takes him down to the Butt Room to get the story. Gene escapes but realizes how vulnerable he is.

The shadow of war lengthens to encompass even the peaceful Devon. The boys, except Leper, shovel out a troop train trapped by snow. The boys spend a long hard dreary day working for the war, Gene decides enlisting would be grander than this. He and Brinker decide to enlist the next day. These plans are foiled however by Finny’s return.

Life changes with the return of Finny. Rules are again broken. Finny begins to train Gene for the 1944 Olympics. Leper enlists. Everyone speculates about the honors he will be earning. Finny plans his first extravaganza since his return. The Winter Carnival is a success except for the desperate telegram from Leper.

When Gene visits Leper, the war draws even closer. Leper indicates that he knows Gene knocked Finny out of the tree, in retaliation, Gene knocks Leper to the floor. Ironically Leper’s mother then invited him to lunch. After lunch Gene and Leper take a walk, Leper tells about his experiences that drove him psycho. Gene flees when confronted by such vivid accounts of what could very well be his fate.

After this, Gene and Finny reestablish their “separate peace”. This lasts until Brinker sets up a mock trial which is held in the middle of the night. Both Finny and Gene are led to the First Academy Building where they are questioned about the accident well into the night. No real evidence was forthcoming until Leper, who had crept back to the campus, was called as a witness. He testified to the fact that Gene had shaken the limb. Upon hearing the damning evidence, Finny leaps from the room only to fall down the hard unchanging marble steps, again breaking his leg.

That night Gene briefly sees Finny but is rebuffed, managing only to say “I’m sorry” several times as he was crawling away. The next day he was asked to bring Finny’s clothes. He and Finny were able to reach an understanding, another “separate peace”. Finny believes Gene is truly his friend.

During the operation to set his leg, Finny dies. Gene does not cry, not even at the funeral, because it felt like his own funeral.

War now encroaches on Devon. Part of the campus, the Far Common, has been taken over by the troops from Parachute Riggers’ School. The boys are on their way to war, avoiding the real fighting; Gene is going to the Navy in Pensacola and Brinker to the Coast Guard.


LINKS TO INFORM YOU

The Life and Times of John Knowles
Influences of World War II and other links to WW II info
Barron's Book Notes for A Separate Peace
Student projects
Themes
Symbolism examples and importance
Foreshadowing examples and importance
Irony examples and importance




A Separate Peace has been infiltrated times.