A Separate Peace Literary Analysis

Have you gone through an experience where you lose your innocence. In the novels Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters of both novels suffer a fall from innocence. Ralph from Lord of the Flies suffers his fall from innocence when he takes part in the brutal, gruesome death of Simon. However, Gene, in A Separate Peace, suffers the greatest fall from innocence. Gene subconsciously cripples his best friend Phineas, which in the end, leads to the death of his friend. Although both characters are at fault for the death of a friend, Gene’s case is far worse because his actions are the result of jealousy, frustration, and anger.
First, in Lord of the Flies, Jack and his tribe had a feast,
Once Gene has maimed Finney, he yells“…Now you know what it is! I did it because I felt like that! Now you know yourself!” said Gene (Knowles 70). James M. Mellard states “The cause of Finney’s fall is not ignorance, not a blindness that just suddenly appears; rather, it is a result of a malice that has been growing in Gene all along-a rivalry , a jealousy, a spite spite that builds in Gene before the fateful jump” (Mellard 75). After Gene sees the limp body of his best friend on the ground, he is unable to process what he has done. He cannot believe he has shaken the branch, this shows that he is unaware of his actions, proving his actions subconscious. However, Gene’s fall from innocence is caused by Finneys good-natured, fun-loving, innocent attitude, which causes Gene to jounce the branch on which Finney is standing. Finney explains his attitude toward Gene and his schoolwork by saying “I didn’t know you needed to study…I didn’t think you ever did. I thought it just came to you” (Knowles 58). Mellard also states “Knowles described Genes jouncing of the limb as a seizure, but which never the less came out of himself, and for which he was responsible” (Mellard 76)Preceding the fall of Phineas he had talked Gene into going to the beach with him, which caused Gene’s first failing grade in his high school career. Phineas’
However, upon further viewing of the text, one sees that Ralph’s actions where based on fear rather than jealousy, such as Gene’s. Piggy exclaims to Ralph after Simon’s murder, “It was dark. There was that-that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” (Golding 156) Piggy tried to tell Ralph that they do not know what they are doing that night. Piggy goes on to tell Ralph that the sins that took place are justified because of their obvious fright. On the other hand, Gene enacts vengeance on Phineas with jealousy for the cause. When Gene explains to Finney what had happens, he acts a little crazy because he knows why he did it. Finney says “’…God you were crazy when you were here’ Gene replied ‘I guess I was. I guess I must have been’” (Knowles 83). Mellard explains “Gene survives by making his accommodation to the brutal truth, by bending with the truth rather than resisting and being broken by it” (Mellard 75). Gene realized his mistake and tried to apologize; however, he acts hysterically because of the guilt within his conscience. Gene is the one who suffers the greatest fall from innocence because he acts on jealousy and