A Separate Peace Essay

A Separate Peace

Gene’s “war” is an internal conflict pitting his own academic goals and desires against his loyalty towards a one sided friendship with Finny. This struggle is played out in his daily life at Devin School, which finally comes to a bitter end with the death of his friend and the final release of Finny’s hold. “Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.” (204) When Gene’s subconscious actions overcome his loyalty to the friendship, he is left with the feeling of intense guilt.
Gene’s goal was to be valedictorian of his class, because of this, he felt threatened by anyone who was better liked and more academically gifted than him. Although Finny was not an academic threat to Gene, he challenged him in popularity and athletics. Jealousy tore at Gene because no matter how hard he tried, he could never be as good at athletics as Finny, nor could he get away with the antics, specifically the pranks, that Finny did. “Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking; I must have made my escape from it.” (10) Although Finny represents Gene’s enemy, his true enemy was his own insecurity and fear.

The death of Finny ended the war that Gene was fighting. “I did not cry then, or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family’s strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston.” (194) Gene felt that a piece of him had died along with Finny, and that Finny’s funeral seemed to be that of his as well. As Gene’s internal war ended, now that his hatred and fury had left him, he realized that he was ready for the real war that he would soon join. “I was ready for the war, now that I no longer had any hatred to contribute to it. My fury was gone, I felt it gone, dried up at the source, withered and lifeless. Phineas had absorbed it and taken it with him, and I was rid of it forever” (203). Finny absolved Gene of his guilt, creating a version of what happened, one that Gene could live with. “It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing. Was that it?” (191) Finny offered Gene a separate peace.

Essay Question Two
The tree plays an important role in the boys’ lives at Devon, representing good and evil throughout the story. The tree brings out the best in the students, but Gene learns that it can also bring out the worst in people as well. The tree is one way that Finny shows his most admirable quality: his athletic ability and tests that ability of others. Gene on the other hand, sees the tree as something to fear and ultimately uses it for evil. Like Adam and Eve who ate from the Tree of Knowledge and were consequently exiled from the Garden of Eden into sin and suffering, the students at Devon, often represented by Gene, are pushed from naive childhood into a knowledge of good and evil that marks them as adults.
The tree plays a center role in Gene and Finny’s friendship at Devon. An example is when Finny, Gene, Chet, Leper, and Bobby were down by the river. Finny climbs the tree and jumps into the river, just like the Devon 17 year olds who are training for military service. He dares Gene to do the same, and against his better judgment, Gene climbs the tree and jumps while the other boys refuse. The jump strengthens Gene and Finny’s friendship bringing them closer together into a relationship of good and evil.
The tree shapes the older students as well as the younger students at Devon school. For the older students, the tree symbolizes strength and endurance. For the younger students the tree is a symbol of strength, but it also symbolizes fear and war for the majority of the younger students. One exception is Finny who is always intrigued with the tree. Although it is against the school rules, Finny climbs the tree and jumps, proving his athletic abilities to be just as good as the 17 year old students’. Gene on the other hand, had his resolve tested when it came to jumping from the tree. Since he was terrified of jumping each time, it was more difficult for him than for Finny. The tree also represents tragedy after Finny falls from it down onto the hard riverbank, breaking his leg. Finny’s fall permanently ended his sports career. The shaky friendship between him and Gene remained as Finny lived vicariously through Gene as he coached him for the Olympics. Throughout everything Finny’s hold on their friendship remained.
Just as the tree represents strength and endurance, it also is associated with loss of innocence. The 17 year old students are using the tree as a means of training for war. The younger students think of the tree not only as a means of testing athleticism, but they use the tree as a source of fun. What kind of young boy finds no fun in climbing trees and jumping into the water? For the 17 year olds, the tree is seen as way to prove their resolve and loyalty to their country in the war. Innocence is almost always associated with youth, but youth are generally not associated with war, and as we all know; war is anything but innocent.