A Separate Peace

A detailed Summary of A Separate Peace

In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, a schoolboy and his friend go through a dramatic struggle that demonstrates the idea that when opposites attract there could be dire consequences. Finny an all around athlete and popular kid has a misfortunate accident when he falls from a tree. Gene a thorough student is annoyed at times with Finny's wild attitude. Finny is forced to come back to school in a cast and conquer Devon, a New England boarding school, once again. Gene and Finny both benefit from their differences in sports, schoolwork, and following the rules, but they also lose a piece of them and get lost.

Finny is naturally talented when it comes to sports, unlike Gene. Gene is in good shape, but he has to train hard to stay fit. Finny, on the other hand, breaks the school swimming record without practicing months beforehand. Gene would have to work hard for months to even begin to think of breaking that swimming record. When Finny has an unfortunate accident, they help each other. Fin

Everyone seems to have different morals when it comes to following rules. Gene is a perfectionist who believes the rules are meant to be followed. Finny is not a perfectionist and believes the rules are meant to be bent. On one occasion, Finny uses the school tie for a belt. "In his haste that morning Finny had not unexpectedly used a tie for a belt. But this morning the first tie at hand had been the Devon School tie." (p. 20) Leper has the idea that rules are to make people feel uncomfortable and you should do what you want. Finny comes to believe Lepper's theory and when he wants to come back to school he comes back, but he misses out on the rest that could have healed him more rapidly. Gene starts to take Finny's theory and goes for crew manager when he isn't injured and he starts to follow Finny even more. All of the boys end up in their own little world and this becomes a terrible consequence when their three separate worlds collide.

Gene uses Finny as his own personal cheerleader telli

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Approximate Word count = 676
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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A Separate Peace

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