a separate peace essay topics

A Separate Peace

95 pages • 3 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

Before Reading

Reading Context

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

After Reading

Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Essay Questions

Exam Questions

Exam Answer Key

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. As the Devon boys enjoy their summer in 1942, the specter of war looms in the background.

• In what ways does war disrupt the lives of the Devon boys? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples from the text to substantiate your answer.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider the following: In what ways is the theme of War Encroaching on Peace of the Devon boys literal? In what ways is it metaphorical?

2. Throughout his narration, Gene is preoccupied with the idea that Finny is a possible rival, as opposed to a genuine friend.

• Why does Gene believe Finny is more foe than friend at times? (topic sentence)
• Consider the friends’ final conversation. How does their ultimate interaction comment on the theme of Competition and Rivalry ?

3. Consider the final chapters of the novel.

• Do you think it was necessary for Finny to die in this narrative? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples from the text to explain why you believe it was or was not necessary for Finny to die.
• What does Finny’s death teach us about The Loss of Innocence ?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. A Separate Peace is rife with symbolism; in fact, some critics have even found elements of allegory in the text. What is the most significant symbol in the novel? How does that symbol recur throughout the novel? What does it represent, both within the world of the book and in relation to the world of the reader, and what evidence in the text supports your claim that it is the most significant?

2. The story is told entirely from Gene’s perspective . Do you think he is a reliable narrator? Are there any elements of his story that you question or doubt? What are some factors that you think affect the way that he tells the story? How would the tone of the story change if another character narrated it?

3. Since the novel takes place at an all-boys school and concerns the WWII draft, the characters are nearly all men. What are the functions of the few women in the novel? Which women appear or are mentioned? What purpose do they serve in the novel?

Related Titles

By John Knowles

Peace Breaks Out

Featured Collections

American Literature

View Collection

Audio Study Guides

Banned Books Week

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

A Separate Peace

By john knowles, a separate peace themes.

is central to the novel; the novel is spawned by a visit back to Gene 's old school, and the work hinges upon a dialogue between the past and the present, and the relation of a man to his much younger self. Gene confesses that he is still stuck in the time of World War II; his memory still has a tremendous hold on him, as evidenced by his ability to recall the goings on of fifteen years' past with such detail. The presence of memory, and its role over time, is a major theme of this book; when Gene reiterates his thoughts on the past and on the lasting impact of the events he is describing, he only increases the importance of this theme within the novel.

Reality vs. memory

Gene often shows how memory can be tinged by feelings that change how reality is perceived and recalled. This is especially evident when he looks for a tree by the river that has a special meaning to him. "It had loomed in my memory as a huge lone spike dominating the riverbank, forbidding as an artillery piece, high as a beanstalk," he says, his similes characterizing the tree as a great, forbidding mass (5). Yet, when he sees it, he finds it "absolutely smaller, shrunken with age," and nothing like the great giant he had remembered. Perhaps the tree had actually shrunk since Gene's time; but this is a more apt example how things can be obscured or emphasized in the memory via emotional factors, and a good introduction of the theme of memory versus reality. Gene remembers his old campus in one way, yet when he visits, he finds it quite different; this happens often, as things can seem less imposing or important when revisited, yet be so huge in one's memory.

Rebellion vs. conformity

Gene and Finny are a great example of this theme in action; Gene is naturally a rule-abiding person, and Finny has an absolute disregard for rules. This difference is also represented in the differences between the summer session and the fall session. Finny himself embodies both of those, as he is able to fit in well enough at school, yet hold his own very eccentric opinions.

Innocence vs. age

Gene tells of how they were children of "careless peace," set apart from adults by their lack of knowledge of the war, and their utter abandon to their own small, happy worlds. Lackadaisical activities of the happy, peace-enveloped juniors are juxtaposed with the semi-military drills that the seniors have to endure. Just as the war encroaches upon the boys at school, their adulthood also looms before them; Gene feels this especially, and this is one of the things that traumatizes Leper‹being suddenly thrown into the world of adulthood. Throughout the novel, Gene notes the difference between his state 15 years after Devon, and his state while at the school; he notices differences between the way he is and the way he was, and how age has changed him all in all.

Both Gene and Finny experience a great deal of denial in the novel, but of different types. Gene tries his best to deny that he hurt Finny, and that he has a dark streak in his nature that causes him to lash out at innocent people. Gene is a "savage underneath," as Leper tells him, and he never is able, not even 15 years later, to come to terms with this. Finny's denial is of his best friend causing his accident; he doesn't want it to be true, so he ignores it until Brinker's trial makes sure he cannot deny it anymore. Finny also denies the existence of the war as long as he can, and tries his best to use denial to construct his own kind of fantasy-world.

Conscience and guilt

These two haunt Gene especially; he feels a great deal of sorrow for what he did to Finny, yet he cannot face down his sense of responsibility and get rid of his guilt. Gene is not a bad person‹he does have a conscience, and does feel remorse‹but he cannot face the part of himself that is guilty of the accident.

Gene and Finny as foils

Gene and Finny, however close they are, are very different and in many ways, complementary beings. Gene is academic, Finny is athletic; Gene is a hard worker, Finny is not; Gene follows the rules, and Finny breaks them; Gene heeds authority figures, Finny does his best to ignore them. The pair get along very well, but they seem to have little in common aside from their differences. The differences in their natures and in their reactions to Finny's accident and to the war show them as foils, as their differences, taken together, make a vivid portrait of two very different people.

Time passing

Things change a great deal over time, as Gene knows; as he has changed and grown up, the school has changed entirely for him, and cannot regain the old glory it had once. Gene mentions Finny falling from the tree as being the event that marked old Devon's death; Finny's accident now becomes a symbol of the changing of the guard, the starting point from which time has passed, marking the beginning of Gene's adulthood and disillusionment. Even from the summer session to the fall, so much has changed; and the boys are unable to regain the sense of peace and security that they had over the summer. Once past, things cannot be regained; youth, peace, and innocence are transitory, as the passing of time overwhelms them and makes them unrecoverable.

War and peace

Throughout Gene's schooling, war threatens to break in and destroy the fragile peace of the school. The summer session represents the height of peace, as nothing, except for Finny's accident, was able to interrupt the carefree joy of those days. But, as the fall session begins, war slowly begins to encroach on the boys; they start their "physical hardening" at the school, recruitment officers start to come around, and the boys begin to talk about enlistment and the draft. The divide between peace and war is also representative of the gap between childhood and adulthood; while peace holds out, the boys are free to be oblivious of the outside world, and are weighed down by nothing. But, when they are finally confronted by the war, they have to grow up; the strain changes them from children into adults, and obliterates the peace of their youth.

Appearance vs. reality

This book is made up of "Gene's" recollections, meaning that the content, events, and characters are all filtered through his individual point of view.

This theme is especially notable in Gene's characterizations of himself, and of Finny. Gene tries to present himself as a rule-abiding, nice kind of person; however, as we see from the events in the book, he is sometimes spiteful, jealous, and has quite a temper when he is stirred up. Gene is not a totally good person, as no one who intentionally injures his best friend and then tries to cover up the truth would be. However, Gene would be hard pressed to admit this, and tries to avoid the subject of his "savage" underpinning. Gene also represents Finny as a happy-go-lucky sort who has been through few problems and has no inner struggles. Even after Finny's accident, Gene insists that Finny has never been conflicted‹after Finny has tried so hard to avoid implicating his friend despite his anger and bitterness. Finny is far more complex, as we find out at the end, than Gene would like to believe him to be; and as Gene finds out, what is on the surface sometimes does not denote what is hidden underneath.

Change under crisis

Many of the boys in the book‹including Leper, Gene, and Finny‹are forced to change when they come upon some sort of crisis situation, or some test of their characters. Under the duress of having entered the military, Leper loses his quiet innocence and becomes confused and angry. Finny's happiness and peace are shattered by Gene's hurtful actions against him, and Gene becomes a better, more forgiving person because of his friend's injuries and early death. As Gene says, all of the boys at the school will change when they discover some oppressive, overwhelming force in the world; change is inevitable, as the boys in the book discover for themselves.

A Separate Peace Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for A Separate Peace is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Explain Gene’s reaction to Leper’s accusations?

One thing that Leper is able to do after his army experience is peg Gene's personality, and know what he did to Finny. Finally, naïve little Leper evaluates Gene in a more accurate way than anyone else in the book; "You always were a savage...

What two placed does the narrator go to visit ?

He goes to visit a marble staircase, and the second place he goes to is the river. The summer most of the action takes place is in the 1942.

What is Finny’s attitude towards war?

Finny is initianally against the war. Peace had come back to Devon," Gene says, after Finny had returned. For a while, the struggle between war and peace is temporarily won by peace; and for a short time, Gene also forgets about his ideas of...

Study Guide for A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace study guide contains a biography of John Knowles, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About A Separate Peace
• A Separate Peace Summary
• A Separate Peace Video
• Character List

Essays for A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of A Separate Peace by John Knowles.

• An Analysis of the Dissimilarity Between Phineas and Brinker
• Growing Up in A Separate Peace
• Dramatic Change in A Separate Peace
• The Before and the After: Finding Identity in the Midst of War
• The Boarding School Microcosm: The Unrealistic Portrayal of “Real Life” in the Institutions of Young Adult Literature

Lesson Plan for A Separate Peace

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to A Separate Peace
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• A Separate Peace Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for A Separate Peace

• Introduction

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

A Separate Peace

John knowles.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

War and Rivalry

John Knowles’s A Separate Peace is a novel about violence and rancor even though Gene , its protagonist, never actually faces battle. The book begins as news of World War II sweeps over Gene and his best friend, Finny , infiltrating their final summer term and academic year at the Devon School . Despite the constant presence of the war, though, Finny and Gene exist in the halcyon days of youthful innocence, focusing on schoolboy…

A Separate Peace showcases the process of identity formation. Gene makes his way through several identities in an attempt to define himself in relation to his surroundings. Although he experiments with multiple personas (the athlete, the intellectual, the daredevil, etc.), the most prominent identity that he adopts is arguably that of Finny ’s best friend. Investing himself in their friendship, Gene closely associates himself with Finny, feeling proud that he’s his closest friend. However, defining…

Change and Growing Up

John Knowles’s A Separate Peace is a story about the ways in which time and maturity can change a person’s perspective on the past. At the beginning of the novel, Gene visits the Devon School for the first time in 15 years. When he arrives, he realizes that he has always thought of the school itself as frozen in time. By association, then, he has also considered his experiences at the school as immutably stuck…

Optimism, Idealization, and Denial

In A Separate Peace , John Knowles examines optimism, suggesting that it can sometimes lead to denial. As someone who makes the best of any situation, Finny focuses only on what he thinks is good. He deeply appreciates the purity of athletics, thinking that sports are an “absolute good” and believing that everyone always wins whenever they play sports, since the mere act of taking part in such activities is rewarding in and of itself…

Friendship and Honesty

More than anything, A Separate Peace is a novel about friendship—its joys, its benefits, its limits. Gene and Finny ’s relationship is unique, shot through with both childish simplicity and a complex tenderness they don’t always know how to navigate. To add to this already intricate dynamic, envy and competition often work their way into the friendship, and this is what ultimately threatens their bond. Throughout the novel, Gene tries to sort out his feelings…

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

The summary of the novel, the characters of the book, the themes of the novel, personal opinion, reference list.

Despite covering the period of World War II, the novel A Separate Peace , the author of which is John Knowles, does not narrate about military campaigns and battles. Instead, it seems to draw a parallel between an external war and an internal struggle within an individual. This essay will give a summary of the novel, describe its main characters, dwell on the issues raised in the book, and provide a personal opinion.

The events of the book are set in the Devon School during World War II. The narrator, Gene Forrester, was 16 years old at that time and had a friend, Phineas, or Finny for short. Finny liked to jump from a tree into the nearby river and encouraged Gene to do the same even though he was scared of it. Finny was so excited about this activity that he organized the Suicide Society. To join it, other boys had to jump from the tree into the water. Perhaps, this occupation was attractive because the school rules forbade it.

Finny was the best athlete in Devon, and Gene wanted to be the most successful student to resemble his friend. Gene, therefore, contributed much time and effort to his studies, but as he was continuously distracted by Finny, he thought that his companion intended to thwart his progress. Gene’s grievance against his friend led to deplorable consequences. When Finn asked his friend to jump from the tree with him once again, Gene impulsively shook the branch, on which they were standing. Finn fell off the tree and damaged his leg, which brought an end to his athletic career.

While Finny was in the hospital, Gene befriended Brinker Hadley, who jokingly accused him of injuring his mate on purpose. However, this new friend turned out to be an enemy. One night, when Finny was already out of the hospital, Brinker gathered him and Gene in the Assembly Room and conducted a trial, during which Finn became convinced of his friend’s blame for his injury. He rushed out of the room angrily, but fell on the stairs and broke his wounded leg. The following day, Gene managed to talk to his companion and explain to him that he had made the accident happen due to an impulse, not on purpose. The friends made peace, but after a while, Finn died during an operation. Gene returned to Devon 15 years later and remembered all the described events. The novel ends with his reflections about enemies, peace, and war.

The first main character of the novel is Gene Forrester, the narrator. In his youth, he was “a somewhat athletic, shy intellectual” (S tudy guide , 2015, p. 1). Gene admired his friend’s sports achievements and the ability to talk others into ventures, and it inspired him to improve his academic record to become the best student. However, this desire caused him to develop envy and resentment since he suspected Finny of hindering his studies. These feelings induced a sudden urge that made Gene drop his friend off the tree. Gene did not do it intentionally as he regretted that deed and felt guilty. Perhaps, his self-blame was so strong that he no longer wanted to be himself and subconsciously denied his identity. In the end, he identified himself with his dead friend, which is apparent from the scene of the burial: “I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (Knowles, 2014, p. 194). Thus, Gene was not inherently evil, and the sense of guilt made him despise his personality.

Another main character is Phineas, Gene’s best friend and roommate. Although he tended to disobey rules and instigated others to do the same, he was a good-natured boy. He trusted his friend, which was why he did not believe Gene’s confession that he was to blame for Finny’s injury. Gene was dear to Phineas since the latter forgave his mate quickly even after he learned that his invalidism was Gene’s fault. Thus, Finny was a kind-hearted and genuine person who became a victim of circumstances.

The novel also has an antagonist, Brinker Hadley, who has the leadership among students. His obsession with discipline and will to justice made him reveal the truth about Finny’s fall. Probably, he is partly responsible for Finny’s death because Finny would not have hurt himself once again if he had not been enraged by the trial. Brinker also expressed his interest in war throughout the novel, but eventually, he seemed to become disappointed in it and rejected it.

One of the main themes of the book is warfare, as its events happen in the time of World War II. However, there is also another battle depicted in the book. Gene wages his internal struggle because he has contradictory feelings toward his friend. He wavers between admiration and jealousy, affection and hatred, friendship, and rivalry. Eventually, he concludes that people are apt to make enemies of those who do not intend to harm them. Perhaps, this is the reason for many conflicts and wars.

Another theme concerns rules and the consequences of disregarding them. The novel shows clearly that all the troubles began when Finny decided to jump from a tree, which was a prohibited activity. Sansom (2018, pp. 22-23) considers this plant symbolic and compares it to the biblical tree, which was also forbidden for Adam and Eve to approach. Thus, the book conveys the thought that rules are invented for a reason, and disobeying them may lead to grave consequences.

Finally, the novel raises the issue of such feelings like fear and jealousy. The first sensation is related to the war, as adolescents realize that one day, they may have to fight as soldiers. It also refers to the fear of oneself, when a human understands what terrible deeds he is capable of. The novel depicts that a person consumed with envy may represent a threat to the object of his or her jealousy. Thus, people should be aware of their feelings and prevent negative ones from affecting their behavior.

Apart from the themes mentioned above, the novel shows examples of good and bad friends. Finny represents a person capable of true friendship since he enjoys being together with his companion. Gene, on the contrary, is an example of an unworthy friend because, despite his admiration for Finny, he considered him his rival and envied him, which made their relationship unhealthy. According to Rini (2016, p. 1451), if man rates someone among his friends but subconsciously dislikes him, chances are that in a complicated situation, he will not decide in favor of their friendship. The novel, therefore, teaches that friendly relation implies sincerity and absence of internal grievances that may cause a person to spite his or her mate.

In conclusion, it should be said that the book is worth reading because it raises the essential problems that people face in their everyday life. Perhaps, after reading this novel, readers will review their attitude to their friends and enemies. The book will be of particular interest to adolescents since its main characters are juveniles who try to find their place in this world and solve interpersonal problems that are common at this age.

Knowles, J. (2014) A separate peace . New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Rini, R. A. (2016) ‘Why moral psychology is disturbing’, Philosophical Studies , 174(6), pp. 1439-1458.

Sansom, J. (2018) ‘The tree of panic in A separate peace ’, Kansas English , 99(1), pp. 22-24.

S tudy guide for John Knowles’s ‘A separate peace’ (2015) Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning.

• Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
• Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”: The Analysis
• The American Dream Based on “Re Jane” by Patricia Park
• Medicine Issues: the Phineas Gage Concept
• Rehumanizing Education: Teaching and Learning in a Postpandemic Society
• Their Eyes Were Watching God: Summary, Main Themes, and Evaluation
• The Relation Between Eliezer and His Father in Night by Elie Wiesel
• The Mulatto by Victor Sejour: The Critique of the Slave-Owning Society
• The Main Themes in "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams
• "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls Overview
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, December 3). A Separate Peace by John Knowles. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-separate-peace-by-john-knowles/

"A Separate Peace by John Knowles." IvyPanda , 3 Dec. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/a-separate-peace-by-john-knowles/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'A Separate Peace by John Knowles'. 3 December.

IvyPanda . 2019. "A Separate Peace by John Knowles." December 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-separate-peace-by-john-knowles/.

1. IvyPanda . "A Separate Peace by John Knowles." December 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-separate-peace-by-john-knowles/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "A Separate Peace by John Knowles." December 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-separate-peace-by-john-knowles/.