A Separate Peace Essay

A Separate peace essay

It was a hot and humid summer, a time where all friends are together at the Devon School. The students enjoying themselves either studying, doing leisure activities or just relaxing under the sun. But outside of the school there was a war in progress. Young men being drafted into the army and all resources scarce. Most men frighten to join, the word enlisted was considered “taboo”. But, not all. A boy named Phineas is an exception, he is natural born leader. He also see the world different, he is playful and an optimist. But he is also carefree and naive. His best friend Gene though is opposite, frequently being jealous, cynical, competitive and realist. This is show in the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, where he uses juxtaposition to develop character.

At the beginning of the novel, the reader already gets the sense that Gene is jealous of Finny athletic ability. One example of this is when Finny invented the game “blitzball”, which Gene goes on to say, “He had unconsciously invented a game which brought his own athletic gifts to their highest pitch…I never saw him tired, never really winded, never overcharged and never restless.” (Knowles 31) When Gene states this, it demonstrates how he is aware of Finny’s athletic dominance over everyone else. Also toward the beginning of the novel Gene envies Finny’s ability to get away with whatever he wanted. This was shown in chapter 2, when Gene and Finny where late for dinner and it was a rule that you could not be. So Finny used his charm to get them out of trouble. Gene says to himself, “It was hypnotism. I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little.” (knowles 18) This quote has much importance for the novel because it is a way of the author foreshadowing. The author is using contrast to show that Finny compared to Gene is always going like a machine, always happy. But Gene, he doesn't have the ability to be as carefree as Finny is, Gene is very critical.

The author uses juxtaposition to show how Finny and Gene differ academically. Gene has always been a pretty good student but when he thought that he needed to beat Finny, he became very focused. Gene asked if Finny would be okay if he beat Chet Douglass academically and Finny answered, “I’d kill myself out of jealous envy”. (knowles chapter 4) This changes Gene, it was this response that made him paranoid and set him out on a competition to beat Phineas. Gene states, “ I became quite a student after that. I had always been a good one, although I wasn’t really interested and excited by learning itself”, after this he sets out to be the best in the school at academics. Even though Gene knows that in the past that Finny doesn't hit it off with academics, Finny even says, ““Me?” He smiled faintly. “Listen, I could study forever and I’d never break C. But it’s different for you, you’re good. You really are. If I had a brain like that, I’d—I’d have my head cut open so people could look at it.” (Chapter 4). This quote also proves that Finny is admiring Gene for how smart he is but Gene sees it as Finny is trying to beat him. This really shows the difference between Finny and Gene.

The last example of juxtaposition is that Finny and Gene both slip while on the tree that they both jump off for The Super