Separate Peace - Symbolism
In John Knowle's A Separate Peace, symbols are used to develop and advance the themes of the novel. One theme is the lack of an awareness of the real world among the students who attend the Devon Academy. The war is a symbol of the "real world", from which the boys exclude themselves. It is as if the boys are in their own little world or bubble secluded from the outside world and everyone else. Along with their friends, Gene and Finny play games and joke about the war instead of taking it seriously and preparing for it. Finny organizes the Winter Carnival, invents the game of Blitz Ball, and encourages his friends to have a snowball fight. When Gene looks back on that day of the Winter Carnival, he says, "---it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace" (Knowles, 832). As he watches the snowball fight, Gene thinks to himself, "There they all were now, the cream of the school, the lights and leaders of the senior class, with their high IQs and expensive shoes, as Brinker had said, pasting each other with snowballs"(843). Another of the principal themes in this novel is the theme of maturity. The two rivers t
The war is a symbol of how things aren't always what they seem. Recruiting posters and propaganda advertising the army convince many boys into thinking the war is an exciting adventure in which young men interact. Leper enlists in the army after being impressed by a film shown by a recruiter from the U.S. ski troops. "The ski movie had decided him. 'I always thought the war would come for me when it wanted me...I never thought I'd be going to it. I'm really glad I saw that movie in time, you bet I am'" (826) Leper is amazed by these men and how they, with their recognizable and friendly faces, give a clean response to war. However, he has a breakdown of emotions after joining the troops. He becomes psychotic, goes AWOL, and is given a Section Eight. The war proves too much for such an innocent, isolated boy. He is unprepared for the gory, gruesome things he sees when he arrives for training, and the change is unbearable for Leper who is used to the traditions at home and at Devon. Gene knows that Leper went through more than he could handle, and comments "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...A Section Eight discharge is for the nuts in the service, the psychos, the Funny Farm candidates" (837). Leper sends Gene a telegram as his call for help. This symbolizes how everyone needs a friend to assist them when they are in trouble. Gene does not even realize how important he is to Leper until this point. hat are part of the Devon School property symbolize how Gene and Finny grow up through the course of the novel. The Devon River is preferred by the students because it is above the dam and contains clean water. It is a symbol of childhood and innocence because it is safe and simple. It is preferred which shows how the boys choose to hold onto their youth instead of growing up. The Naguamsett is the disgustingly dirty river which symbolizes adulthood because of its complexity. The two rivers intermingle showing the boys' changes from immature individuals to slightly older and wiser men. Phineas and Gene are often considered to be symbols of the two sides of the human personality-good and evil. Phineas becomes a symbol of the ideal person. He is kind, considerate, compassionate, and an excellent friend to Gene. He is a le
Some common words found in the essay are:
Gene Phineas, Devon Academy, Phineas Gene, Funny Farm, Winter Carnival, Devon River, Finny Finny, Leper Gene, Gene Finny, Section Eight, separate peace, gene finny, themes novel theme, leper enlists, real world, students war, section eight, devon academy, tree limb, war symbol, gene phineas, snowball fight gene,
Approximate Word count = 1561
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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