A Separate Peace

A detailed Summary of A Separate Peace

The theme suggested in the closing paragraph of the novel A Separate Peace is that people create their own enemy and then they defend themselves laboriously and obsessively against their imaginary enemy. They develop a particular frame of mind in

order to allay the fear that arises while facing their nonexistent enemy. In the novel, the protagonist, Gene, tries to fight a war with his best friend, Finny, not realizing that the enemy he sees is not Finny but is his own insecurity.

At the beginning Gene believes that Finny is actually his enemy who is trying to sabotage him. Gene thinks that Finny envies his academic ability just as he envies Finny's extraordinary athletic ability. That way he feels better; he lowers Finny to his

evel so that they are "even, even in enmity." Gene's attitude toward Finny is a manifestation of his jealousy and lack of self-confidence. Finny, on the other hand is extremely confident. He never had the evil thoughts about destroying Gene's grades; he

s too innocent to have such thought. Furthermore, Finny being a carefree person does not

Gene soon realizes that Finny is not trying to be his rival. However, this realization only makes Gene angrier with Finny. He is irritated at the notion that he is "not of the same quality as Finny," thus he cannot possibly compete with Finny. At this

should view the enemy and the war in a more objective perspective, and try to understand themselves. Only by doing so can they eventually find their identity.

tree from which he had almost fallen one time but Finny saved his life by reaching out and grabbing him. This time, Finny, who is standing on the limb falls off the tree and breaks his leg. Despite this incident, Finny continues to believe in Gene's loy

e sight of the enemy, and they defend themselves by creating a particular frame of mind according to their characters. Therefore, in these wars, people use the defense they "constructed at infinite cost to themselves" to fight against an enemy they them

int Gene already knows that his enemy is not Finny, but he is not yet mature enough to see who his true enemy is. In his subconscious mind, he wants to destroy Finny, or at least bri

Some common words found in the essay are:
Furthermore Finny, War II-are, Separate Peace, Gene Finny, Maginot Lines, Peace Topic, enemy defend themselves, enemy finny, own value, particular frame mind, defend themselves, particular frame, frame mind, gene realize, character gene, recognize own, own worth, makes gene,

Approximate Word count = 745
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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A Separate Peace

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