John Knowles 'A Separate Peace'
Melissa Banish
Period 6
Mr. Weston
March 28, 2012
“A Separate Peace” Research Paper
The author of “ A Separate Peace,” John Knowles once said, “Looking back now across fifteen years I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking: I must have made my escape from it” (Knowles 10). The “fear” mentioned previously, is a result of the times Knowles lived in, a time of a war, which had even affected his comfortable life at a private school. “A Separate Peace,” by John Knowles, was influenced by his life experience at his time spent at Exeter Academy, and the ongoing war, World War II. The period of time John Knowles spent at Exeter Academy …show more content…
The U.S. industry was busy building ships, planes and submarines, which was the most direct effect on the U.S. (World War II). Although America had not been attacked on the home front, many Americans were put into states of shock, and surprisingly this brought up a new sense of patriotism; such patriotism seen in “A Separate Peace,” and even demonstrated by Elwin "Leper" Lepellier. Leper is the first to enlist in the army, in chapter nine (Knowles 123). This enlistment scares the boys at Devon, because it made the war more real, and it reminds them of the draft. Seeing that all the boys at Devon are nearing the age of adulthood, they could possibly be drafted (Knowles). In an interview Knowles expressed his and Heyl’s opinions of the draft, and how it felt for them, “One connecting thread between the Exeter classes of ’42 and ’71 was the war and the draft, two topics which Heyl has definite ideas about. “I would kill for my country,” he says, “if it was invaded, but I refuse to go to Vietnam and kill somebody I don’t even know. When I was 18, I was almost drafted, and if it wasn’t for my asthma getting me classified 4F, I probably would have had to go,” says Heyl,” (Carragher 18). These quotes express the impact of the war, and the fear it installed in everyone’s hearts, especially the
Period 6
Mr. Weston
March 28, 2012
“A Separate Peace” Research Paper
The author of “ A Separate Peace,” John Knowles once said, “Looking back now across fifteen years I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking: I must have made my escape from it” (Knowles 10). The “fear” mentioned previously, is a result of the times Knowles lived in, a time of a war, which had even affected his comfortable life at a private school. “A Separate Peace,” by John Knowles, was influenced by his life experience at his time spent at Exeter Academy, and the ongoing war, World War II. The period of time John Knowles spent at Exeter Academy …show more content…
The U.S. industry was busy building ships, planes and submarines, which was the most direct effect on the U.S. (World War II). Although America had not been attacked on the home front, many Americans were put into states of shock, and surprisingly this brought up a new sense of patriotism; such patriotism seen in “A Separate Peace,” and even demonstrated by Elwin "Leper" Lepellier. Leper is the first to enlist in the army, in chapter nine (Knowles 123). This enlistment scares the boys at Devon, because it made the war more real, and it reminds them of the draft. Seeing that all the boys at Devon are nearing the age of adulthood, they could possibly be drafted (Knowles). In an interview Knowles expressed his and Heyl’s opinions of the draft, and how it felt for them, “One connecting thread between the Exeter classes of ’42 and ’71 was the war and the draft, two topics which Heyl has definite ideas about. “I would kill for my country,” he says, “if it was invaded, but I refuse to go to Vietnam and kill somebody I don’t even know. When I was 18, I was almost drafted, and if it wasn’t for my asthma getting me classified 4F, I probably would have had to go,” says Heyl,” (Carragher 18). These quotes express the impact of the war, and the fear it installed in everyone’s hearts, especially the