Good vs. Evil, Wars in "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, portrays wars on three distinct levels.
These levels could be described as outer, inner, and world. There is a very good
definition of these wars at the closing of the novel which shows us the levels:
'I could never agree with either of them. It would have been comfortable, but I
could not believe it. Because it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations
and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in
the human heart.' (page 193)
This passage shows that wars go on around the world, all the time people are battling a
never-ending fight. Not necessarily battles like World War II or even a common street
fight or family feud, but battles with mind and emotion that everyone must deal with.
One such battle is that in which Gene deals with throughout the book, the battles
with Finny. We learn as the story begins that Gene and Finny are best friends. They go
almost everywhere together and they even share a room at their school. We enter the
story at what is called a 'summer session' which could be described as today's equivalent
of summer school. But, as the story unfolds, we are forced to ask ourselves, are they
friends as the appear to be at the start of the novel or are they mortal enemies as Gene
begins to hint with this quote at the point Gene thinks Finny is finally going to 'get away'
with something he did. 'This time he wasn't going to get away with it. I could feel
myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that.'(page 20) This shows us that even though
they are friends, Gene feels that Finny is too perfect and he needs to see a sign that he is
human, that he is not the super-popular 'benevolent' kid everyone else thinks he is. 'He
had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment.'(page 21)
Finny, like usual had finally gotten himself out of a seemingly 'sure catch.'
Later on in the novel, Gene's inner torment finally gets the best of
These levels could be described as outer, inner, and world. There is a very good
definition of these wars at the closing of the novel which shows us the levels:
'I could never agree with either of them. It would have been comfortable, but I
could not believe it. Because it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations
and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in
the human heart.' (page 193)
This passage shows that wars go on around the world, all the time people are battling a
never-ending fight. Not necessarily battles like World War II or even a common street
fight or family feud, but battles with mind and emotion that everyone must deal with.
One such battle is that in which Gene deals with throughout the book, the battles
with Finny. We learn as the story begins that Gene and Finny are best friends. They go
almost everywhere together and they even share a room at their school. We enter the
story at what is called a 'summer session' which could be described as today's equivalent
of summer school. But, as the story unfolds, we are forced to ask ourselves, are they
friends as the appear to be at the start of the novel or are they mortal enemies as Gene
begins to hint with this quote at the point Gene thinks Finny is finally going to 'get away'
with something he did. 'This time he wasn't going to get away with it. I could feel
myself becoming unexpectedly excited at that.'(page 20) This shows us that even though
they are friends, Gene feels that Finny is too perfect and he needs to see a sign that he is
human, that he is not the super-popular 'benevolent' kid everyone else thinks he is. 'He
had gotten away with everything. I felt a sudden stab of disappointment.'(page 21)
Finny, like usual had finally gotten himself out of a seemingly 'sure catch.'
Later on in the novel, Gene's inner torment finally gets the best of