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The term “a separate peace” means that two people have come to an
agreement on their own standards. In the novel A Separate Peace, the
agreement is made between the characters Gene and Finny. I believe
Knowles chose this title, because it is a good way to describe the
relationship between the two characters at the end of the story.
At the beginning of the story Gene and Finny were good friends.
Sometimes Finny did some things that Gene thought were too wild, like
wear the school tie as a belt. These things sometimes upset Gene,
because Finny could talk his way out of any punishment. Secretly Gene
almost wants to see Finny get in trouble, but Gene talks himself out of
these feelings. Gene also feels that being friends with Finny is
something forced upon him. When the two boys are at the beach, Gene
decides not to respond to Finny’s statement that they are good friends.
This starts an inner struggle inside Gene. He no longer knows whether
or not to admire Finny, or resent him. Gene gets back to Devon from the
beach, just in time to take a trigonometry test. Gene fails the test,
which has never happened. Finny keeps luring Gene away from work to do
fun things. This starts to make Gene feel like Finny is trying to ruin
his academic career. Despite Gene’s intuitions, Gene and Finny get
along well for the following weeks. Later on, Finny interrupts Gene’s
studying to tell him that Leper is going to jump from the tree (which
is an initiation into Gene’s Suicide Society). Gene suspects that Finny
talked Leper into it, just so Finny could disrupt Gene’s studying.
Finny insists that Gene doesn’t have to go if he needs to study, but
Gene says he has studied enough and that he’ll go watch Leper jump. On
the way to the tree, Gene decides that there never was any intended by
Finny. When the two get to the tree, Finny insists they do a double
jump. Finny goes out onto the end of the branch, and waits for Gene to
get into the tree. When he does get onto the branch, Gene jounces the
branch. This causes Finny to lose his balance, and fall out of the tree
with a sickening thud.
When the dust clears, Finny has a broken leg, and Gene feels
insecure about his feelings toward Finny. Gene feels both jealousy and
denial. Gene tries to convince himself and others that it was all an
accident. Finny does return to Devon for the winter session. Gene and
Finny are later confronted by Brinker to have a trial in order to
settle any rumors about what happened between Gene and Finny. Gene is
able to keep his innocence through the trial, and Finny stands by what
Gene says. Since Finny can’t remember all the details of that fateful
day, Leper is called upon as a witness. Leper admits to seeing someone
jounce the limb, making Finny fall down. Then, Finny angrily claims he
doesn’t care what happened, and hobbles out of the room and falls down
a flight of stairs. Finny is sent to the infirmary where the on campus
doctor says Finny broke his leg again. Later, Gene tries to apologize,
but Finny won’t listen so Gene wanders about the campus. The next day
Gene brings some belongings to Finny. Finny opens up and begs Gene to
tell him that some impulse made him do it. Gene agrees, and Finny tells
Gene he believes him. Gene is told that Finny will have surgery that
afternoon, and that he can come back later that day. When Gene returns,
the doctor greets Gene with the news that Finny died.
So in the end Gene has peace knowing Finny doesn’t know that he
purposely caused Finny to fall, and Finny has peace thinking it was all
an accident. So Gene and Finny had made a separate peace.
This quote regards the closeness of Gene and Finny’s
relationship. Some may interpret certain their closeness as somewhat
homosexual. It does require maturity to understand that you can be a
close friend, and not be gay.
Gene grows in many different ways. He grows physically as well as
mentally. Physically he grows while Finny is training him for the
Olympics. Mentally he grows, because one gains much knowledge when
making a bad decision. Gene made many bad decisions throughout the
story, the most important error being, knocking Finny off the tree.
Gene gained knowledge in what to do in that situation. Maybe next time
he will make better decisions.
Finny’s fall from the tree is one of the biggest symbols in the
story. His fall ends the summer session, which gave many happiness and
fun. The end of the summer session means the beginning of the winter
session, which isn’t so fun and entertaining. The fall also shows Gene
that his envy does have consequences.
The different sessions at Devon are also symbols. The summer session
is when the students can be free to do things they normally can’t.
There aren’t as many rules since the substitute teachers don’t enforce
them strictly. The summer session also symbolizes happiness and good
times amongst the students of Devon. On the other hand the winter
session is not fun and enjoyable. The regular teachers are back, rules
and all. The students can’t do all the things they could do in the
summer. There is also grief among some students over Finny’s injuries.
The winter session just represents darker times.
The final symbol in the story is World War II. This represents the
conflict in Gene. Gene is fighting a battle of his own, between loving
or hating Finny.
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