The Motif Of War In A Separate Peace Essay, Research Paper

World War II started in 1939 and did not end until 1945. It was the result of one person’s need for power and control over the rest of the world. We saw this power as a threat, which exploded into an outbreak more devastating than anything else we humans had ever seen. War is defined as an armed conflict between nations or states, or between different parties: any act or state of hostility. War can be experienced if there is an armed conflict between two groups (as in World War II), or just as a hostility one feels towards another person. In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles the major motif is war, which is evident throughout the novel.

The motif of warfare is represented in the novel by examples of real warfare. This novel takes place during World War II in the private prep school for boys’ called the Devon School. Here we can see that they are involved in the war through many things. Most of the boys there are always talking about the war and about headlines that discuss the bombings in central Europe. Most of them realize that there is a war going on and that it is a huge problem, however, they do think of it as an adventure in itself. “‘I’m giving it up, I’m going to enlist. Tomorrow.’ I felt a thrill when he said it. This was the logical climax of the whole misbegotten day, this whole out-of-joint term at Devon. I think I had been waiting for a long time for someone to say this so that I could entertain these decisive words myself.” Another reference to real warfare was that they were always talking about the seniors and that they had to take special preparation courses so that they would be prepared to enlist in the military. “The class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid programs and a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree.” Even Gene tried to come to pace with the war and he got involved as an assistant crew manger to gain experience in commanding troops. Another direct reference to the war is the absence of maids in the school. Throughout their other years at Devon, there were always maids to clean up the towels in the change rooms and to keep the school especially nice. Since it was wartime, the school’s budget was most likely cut to have more money go towards the war effort. Although there were many references towards real warfare, much of the novel deals with indirect representations of war itself.

War was a predominant part of the boys’ lives while attending the Devon School. They were constantly reminded of war and even had certain games that they played, created with the reference to war. The first “game” that was developed was jumping out of the tree that stood jutted out over the river. This tree was used for the training of seniors and represented having to jump off a troopship when it is torpedoed. To make it more realistic, they had them slap the water in order to spread the “burning oil on the surface of the water.” It was said that no one under seventeen had the courage to jump out of the tree so Phineas was naturally the first one to try it. Gene followed suit and together they formed the “Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session”, where everyone had to jump out of the tree in order to be initiated. Another one of their war-like “games” was called Blitzball. This game all started when their summer athletic program disgusted Phineas. He found an old medicine ball and made up a game on the spot. “‘Let’s make it have something to do with war,’ suggested Bobby Zane. ‘Like a blitzkrieg or something.’” They later renamed it Blitzball in order to keep it simple. A blitzkrieg is a German word meaning lightening-war. Since it was wartime, they did almost everything pertaining in some respect towards the war. These games were another representation of the motif of war in this novel, A Separate Peace.

The motif of war is carried on through warlike conflicts between characters. One of the first warlike conflicts I encountered was between Gene and Cliff Quackenbush, the crew manager in which Gene was the assistant. Like in a warlike conflict, they both had hostilities towards one another and they even “battled it out” in one part of this novel. “Quackenbush had clamped his arm in some kind of tight wrestling grip around my neck, and I was glad in this moment not to be a cripple. I reached over, grasped the back of his sweat shirt, wrenched, and it came away in my hand. I tried to throw him off, he lunged at the same time, and we catapulted into the water.” Another war-like conflict that arose among two characters was between Gene and Elwin Leper Lepellier (known as Leper by all of his friends). Leper was the first of their group to enlist in the military, but suffered from insanity and escaped in a matter of a few months. He contacted Gene asking him for help because he was scared. During the time that Gene spent with him he realized that the army had done strange things to his mind and had made him “admit a hell of a lot” to himself. He brought up the question of Gene pushing Phineas out of the tree and Gene got terribly mad. This started the warlike conflict between these two. At the end of Gene’s stay with Leper, he brought up Brinker, one of Gene and Phineas’ friends and someone who always bothered Leper. Brinker and Leper had their own type of warlike conflict between them. Leper’s response to Gene when he said that Brinker had changed was, “‘I’d know that bastard if he’d changed into Snow White.’” Gene finally left when Leper started to talk “crazy” about his experiences in the army camp. “‘Do you think I want to hear every gory detail! Shut up! I don’t care! I don’t care what happened to you, Leper. I don’t give a damn! Do you understand that? This has nothing to do with me! Nothing at all! I don’t care!’” Although there were many conflicts between the minor characters, the major source of warlike conflict was between the two main characters: Gene and Phineas.

The inner warring going on between Gene and Phineas adds to the motif of war in this novel. This warlike conflict between these two characters was mainly a one-sided idea on Gene’s part. It all started with the notion that Phineas was trying to bring him down in his studies so that they would be even. “I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even. But while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete, and when everything was thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me. The new attacks of studying were his emergency measures to save himself. I redoubled my effort.” He felt that Phineas was perfect in every way and this just angered him more. Gene was, in a way, envious of Phineas and it grew to a point where he was willing to severely injure him for being so perfect. Just before Gene and Phineas were going to do the daring “double-jump” Gene realizes that Phineas feels no jealousy or hatred towards him and that Phineas is indeed perfect in every way. Gene becomes aware that only he is the jealous one. He learns of his animosity and that he really is a “savage underneath”. Over a long period, Gene had been denying his feelings of hatred towards Finny, saying that it was normal for him to feel this way. The realization that these feelings are one-sided causes Gene to fall dramatically in comparison to Phineas and concludes with the necessity for him to be brought down to his level, and results with Gene jouncing the limb.

The motif of war is further revealed in that Gene now has to fight a war with himself. He has terrible guilt for what he has done and knows that the reason Phineas dies is partially his fault. He must now confront his problems, face reality, and deal with the future. The first step that Gene had to take in order to stop this inner warring was acknowledge the fact that he isn’t as great as Phineas, that he is his own individual, and that Phineas isn’t as perfect as he thought. He has to accept the guilt for Phineas’ difficulties after his injury and must help him as a punishment for this deed he committed. In a way, Gene almost “becomes” Phineas when it comes to sports. “‘I’m too busy for sports,’ and he went into his incoherent groans and jumbles of words, and I thought the issue was settled until at the end he said, ‘Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’ and I lost party of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” The greatest hurdle Gene must overcome is learning to live with what he has done. He has to accept that he isn’t perfect and that he, like any other normal human being, has faults. Forgiving himself is the step with will allow Gene to lead a normal life and enter society. When he does this, he will be able to move on and join the adult world, leaving his childhood behind. It takes him fifteen years, but he returns to the Devon School and there he finds his inner peace. “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.”

The motif is very important in this novel because it helps tie the novel together, it conveys a central insight about life, and it adds to the story as a whole. This novel is about how different people react to different situations and in this case, the situation is war. Accepting people for who they are and not what you think they are is the most important thing to remember. This is the central insight of the novel and it ties into the motif of war. Gene was at war with himself throughout the novel only because he couldn’t accept that Phineas was perfect in almost every way. Phineas realized that you have to accept people for who they are long before Gene ever realized that and I believe that is what made Gene be at war with himself. This motif of war adds a base to which these characters have to deal. It helps to convey the thoughts and feeling of different people and ties the novel together by giving all of the characters something to base their lives on. Most of all, it helps us to see the good side of people and know that in order to move on, you have to accept who you are first and formally.

The motif of war is present throughout this novel, A Separate Peace, and is presented in many different forms. There are relations to real warfare, warlike games, warlike conflicts between characters, and inner warring within the main characters. It also helps tie the novel together by giving it a common base for which the characters base their lives upon, and helps in giving central insight into life. The motif of war is conveyed in many ways but is mostly shown through the characters. “We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves.” (Albert Camus (1913-60), French-Algerian philosopher, author.)