A Seprate Peace Essay, Research Paper

A hate group kills ten-thousand in bloody massacre. The human heart is a

source of hate. No matter how much time goes by here will always be

hate. John Knowle wrote the book A Separate Peace in 1960. As a human

one is prone to evil and the temptations of war. One will always be jealous

and have to be aware of the evil everyone has in war.

Maturity is is one of the themes in the book A Separate Peace. The two

rivers that are part of the Devon School property show how Gene and Finny

grow up in the book. Most of the kids at the school rather the Devon River

over the Naquamsett because it is cleaner and is dammed. It is a symbol of

childhood and innocence because it is safe and simple. Choosing the Devon

shows how the boys hold onto their youth instead of growing up. The

Naguamsett is a really dirty river which sysmbolizes the adulthood because it

is complicated.

Phineas and Gene are symbols of the two sides of human personality

good and evil. Phineas is a symbol of the perfect person . He is kind,

considerate, and an excellent friend to Gene. He is a leader , and is confident

in himself and in his friends. This is shown when he breaks the school

swimming record. Gene, on the other hand, is a follower. Deep down

Gene can be evil from all the anger that has built up inside of him.

Through the book the question that the reader continually sees is whether or

not Gene proposlley shook the tree limb so that Finny would fall. Gene

subconsciously was jealous of Finny’s success as an athelte at Devon.

In conclusion, the many symbols in the book show the persistent themes

of A Separate Peace. The friendship between Gene and Phineas displays

themes such as lack of reality, immaturity, and false appearances. Their

relationship deteriorates and leads to the death because they fail to learn these

important lessons.