A Seperate Peace :: essays research papers

In John Knowles book A Separate Peace he communicates how the warfare in him was taking its toll on him. He uses the characters in a complicated plot to show the destructive forces of war. The characters, broker and Finny, are the opposing forces in a struggle between the reality of war (World War II) and a separate peace. A peace away from the real war and the awful things that come from it. Through their relationship, which is a struggle on twain sides, Knowles establishes the reality of war by means of a relationship. agent Forrestor is established as the force of reality. This idea is established clearly in a speech Gene gives as the narrator of the story.Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you dictate to this person the world today or life or reality he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his un leashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever. (Knowles, 32)This statement explains that Gene must have something that is his stamp. This stamp defines an individual standing up for something he believes in. The attached paragraph shows that this is true where Gene continues, For me, this moment-four years is a moment in history-war the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still live and think in its atmosphere. (Knowles, 32) after in the same paragraph he goes on to sayAmerica is not, never has been, and never will be what the songs and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and vane are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because at that place isnt very much to buy. The war will always be fought very far away from America and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people, who are always either leaving or on leave. (Knowles, 32)This is what Gene stands for in the book A Separate Peace. Gene appears to understand the reality of war and how it affects people. Throughout the entire story Gene is used to bring the destructive reality of war into everyday life at Devon High School where there is an attempt to create and exist in a separate peace.