Quotes from A Separate Peace "I think we reminded them of what peace was like‚ we boys of sixteen....We were careless and wild‚ and I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve....We reminded them of what peace was like‚ of lives which were not bound up with destruction. Phineas was the essence of this careless peace." Chapter 2‚ pp. 16-17 Context: Gene says this after he and Finny were in Mr. Prud’homme’s office explaining why they were late to dinner
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Coming-Of-Age Story Gene Forrester is the protagonist of a coming of age story in many ways. First Genes shift from ignorance to knowledge is pretty apparent. An ignorant Gene is led to the tree where he jounces the the limb causing Finny to fall. The knowledge of his evil deed and the loss of innocence because of it really launches Gene from childhood to adulthood. Genes shift from innocence to experience can be expressed by the very same situation. Gene lost his innocence when he jounced the
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"He was everywhere‚ he enjoyed himself hugely‚ he laughed out loud at passing sea gulls"(39). This line is describing Phineas‚ or Finny‚ and how he lives life to it’s fullest and seizes the day. Finny is an example of living the "carpe diem" (seize the day) philosophy from the movie "Dead Poets Society." There are a few examples in the first part of this novel of how Finny takes advantage of life. The first example is how he enjoys himself so much at the beach. Gene describes how Finny has such
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During the novel‚ Finny calls Gene his best pal after they had spent the day at the beach with each other. Gene doesn’t feel the same about Finny though. Gene accuses Finny of joking around and distracting Gene all the time because he believes Finny is trying to keep him away from studying and school. Gene chooses to respond poorly‚ and convinces himself to think that Finny was a bad guy‚ and that he was trying to distract Gene from what really mattered to himself. Gene started to think that Finny
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The play opens in the living room of the Brewster home‚ where Abby and Martha Brewster‚ and their nephew‚ Teddy live. Teddy‚ who is rather crazy‚ believes himself to be Theodore Roosevelt. Mortimer enters and announces to his aunts that he intends to marry Elaine‚ the minister’s daughter‚ whom he is taking to a play that evening. Things begin to unravel as Mortimer lifts the lid to the window seat. He discovers the dead body of Mr. Hoskins and assumes that Teddy has killed him. However‚ Abby
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In the beginning of chapter 11‚ Gene and Phinehas’s relationship look to be at its maximum potential. Finny is playing with people in a snowball fight‚ and Gene initially doesn’t want to play but Phineas persuades him to. They show their closeness by their ability to persuade each other to do things they wouldn’t‚ in their right mind‚ doing the first place. Gene expresses his concern when he asks Phineas if he should be playing in the first place. Later when Brinker comes to their room‚ he mentions
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against all. In the novels Lord of the Flies by William Golding and A Separate Peace by John Knowles‚ the authors both examine a story that takes place under limited adult supervision while in the backdrop of war. In this setting‚ the characters act out the worst of mankind. In Lord of the Flies‚ the main characters show the worst of mankind through jealousy‚ savagery‚ and fear. Contrary to Lord of the Flies‚ In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles‚ the worst of mankind is shown mostly through jealousy
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“If Phineas had been sitting here in this pool of guilt‚ how would he have felt‚ what would he have done? He would have told me the truth.”(Knowles 66). Gene made a horrible mistake‚ but his first response is to do what Finny would do. They are best friends‚ Gene and Finny‚ because they balance each other out. Gene is quite refrained and a follower‚ but Finny is more outgoing and a leader. The problem with Gene being so refrained is he never talks about his feelings‚ instead he bottles them up until
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Situational Irony - There is situational irony near the end of the story. This happens when Nathan retells the story of how he saved Delia over Eunice. The reader expects Nathan to explain how he didn’t choose who he saved‚ due to the fact that it was too dark. Nonetheless‚ the reader finds out that Nathan knowingly saved Delia first‚ after identifying the fur of Eunice’s coat. This creates a plot twist‚ and increases the reader’s interest in the story‚ despite it happening in the last few lines
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Imagine a town. This town’s buildings were all the same and they looked identical to each other. The people living there all had perfect friendships and even acted the same way. Each person had the same morals and strived to be the same thing. The cars were the same and so on. Nothing would be different‚ would it? It is okay to have certain attributes alike with other people or things‚ but after a while someone will want to search for something- anything- that would make them stand out from the others
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