Gene's Struggle to Reach Inner Peace
John Knowles's novel, A Separate Peace, relates to the struggle of male adolescents growing up during the difficult times of World War II. Set at Devon Academy, a private Eastern preparatory school, the story focuses mainly on the relationship between Gene Forrester and his friend, Phineas, who attempt to isolate themselves from the war by creating a sheltered world at Devon during the summer and winter terms of 1942 and 1943. Events at Devon force Gene to grow up and to come to terms with the negative forces in him. The title alludes to both the peace from the anguish of war and personal peace, a lack of personal hatred or enmity. Knowles reveals that personal peace can be attained when an individual resolves internal conflicts and hatreds and therefore is protected from forces that destroy personal peace and the peace of the world. The novel's title conveys this theme by focusing on Gene's struggle to achieve a separate peace. In the beginning, Gene faces his jealousy towards Finny in an attempt to find inner peace. The first time Gene shows jealousy is when Finny wears his school tie as a belt around his waist and doesn't get in trouble for it. When one of Finny's teachers stopped him, he gave him a long speech, and in the e
nd didn't get in trouble. In Gene's eyes, Finny always finds a way to talk his way out of trouble. Another time Gene shows jealousy is when Finny and him are at the beach. When they're walking along the boardwalk, Gene notices that people are looking at Finny. "I noticed that people were looking fixedly at him, so I took a look myself to see why" (918). A third time Finny sees the record for "100 Yards Free Style" with "A. Hopkins Parker - 1940 - 53.0 seconds" under it, he says that it is an insult to the class because it hasn't been broken. Finny, being loyal to his class, decides that he can beat Parker's time. Sure enough, he beats it by .7 second. Gene is somewhat excited for him, but Finny tells him not to tell anyone. "Was he trying to impress me or something? ... Perhaps for that reason his accomplishment took root in my mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where I was forced to hide it" (917). Another way for Gene to attempt to reach inner peace is by becoming as like as possible as Finny. One day Gene decides to put on Finny's clothes, for no apparent reason. Gene looks in the mirror and realizes that he looks just like Finny. He is quite happy with what he sees. "I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief, but it seemed, standing there in Finny's triumphant shirt, that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again" (925). Gene deciding that he doesn't want anything to do with sports is also a way of trying to reach inner peace. When Dr. Stanpole tells Gene that Finny will never be able to play sports again, Gene a
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Approximate Word count = 1058
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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