Flashbacks In A Separate Peace

Throughout the book, A Separate Peace, we see Gene dealing with an inner conflict. We see him struggling with who he really is and the guilt he carries with him. He is conflicted about his identity and who he should be. Throughout the book he continues to have guilt over the accident he causes with his best friend Finny. The incident causes Gene to have major conflict with himself. He is conflicted if he really caused the incident or if it was truly an accident. The devices used in this story to reflect that Gene has an inner conflict are, flashbacks, foreshadowing, and symbolism. One of the devices used in the book to show Gene has an inner conflict is flashbacks. The author shows flashbacks through Gene’s eyes which shows he has
an inner conflict. The whole story is basically one big flashback. In the beginning of the book it starts in the present and goes back and forth to describe the boarding school they are attending. He describes how much the school has changed, and how unfamiliar it is to him. “I went back to the Devon school not long ago, and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there fifteen years before” (Knowles, pg.9). Knowles writes the book in a flashback to give us a first person perspective. It is told by Gene’s older self to give us a more mature outlook on the story. Gene goes back to visit the boarding school years after he was once a student there. He has served in the war and lived his life. He tells the story of him and Finny and tries to understand and get a better perspective on the incident that occurred years earlier. The flashback begins with Gene and Finny having a conversation about the tree. “What I like best about this tree is that it is such a cinch!” This means that he believes the tree is an easy task that he can overcome. That climbing it would be simple. Little did Gene or Finny know that the tree would cause a major conflict and cost Finny his life. Foreshadowing is another device used in the book to show Gene’s inner conflict.
During Finny’s accident when Gene moves the branch it foreshadows that he is jealous of Finny. He goes to see Finny and confronts his fear of telling him what actually happened. “I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off” Gene says on his visit to see Finny (Knowles, pg.70). This leads to an inner conflict with himself and his guilt because finny does not believe that he actually moved the limb on purpose. Gene is unsure if he should be guilty or not because he is unsure if he really meant to make the limb move. Throughout this story it is unclear if he is sincerely sorry about Finny’s accident or if he is just trying to cover his tracks. Finny’s accident is also a bad thing for Gene. He was going to join the army, then when Finny came back he tries to make him into an olympian. This foreshadows Gene’s inner conflict about what he wants to do. Since he is fighting with himself and his guilt he feels obligated to stay with Finny and help him in any way possible. Since Finny is not eligible to go to war or do any athletics he is determined to turn Gene into him so he can fulfill his goals. “Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me” (pg. 85). At this point Gene has lost his freedom and is forced to become a part of Phineas, as if it is his new purpose in
life. Lastly, the use of symbolism shows Gene’s inner conflict.
There are many symbols in the book that show Gene is dealing with an inner conflict. After Finny’s accident Gene goes to see Finny which shows he is struggling with guilt. Once he returns to Devon for school he does not have Finny or anyone else as a roommate. At this time he wears Finny’s clothes which shows that the inner conflict he deals with is not knowing who he is. He is himself, yet he is also morphing into Finny. Finny comes back to school awhile later to see that his place was “saved” for him. “Saving my place for me! Good old Devon. But anyway, you wouldn’t have let them put anyone else in there, would you?” (Knowles, pg.83). Gene is surprised by Finny’s arrival showing that he may in fact not be guilty at all because he didn’t intend on saving Finny’s room. Later, when they skip class and go to the gym Finny wants Gene to do pullups. Gene wants to prove he is better than him so he does them successfully. This shows that Gene is trying to one up Finny and be better than him. This symbolises his inner conflict by showing he really doesn’t know who he is. He constantly goes back and forth between how he acts and how Finny
acts. Devices used in this story help the reader to understand Gene’s inner conflict. Flashbacks, foreshadowing, and symbolism are all the techniques that Knowles uses to described Gene’s conflict with himself. The story is one big flashback that contains the use of foreshadowing and symbolism to show Gene struggling with his identity, and the guilt he carries with him ever since Finny’s accident. Gene never really understood what his identity was or what his purpose was. Perhaps if Finny was still alive he would have become him, or maybe he would have joined the army anyway. This book teaches the audience about conflict and how to deal with the struggle of having one.