A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace

Author	John Knowles
Language	English
Genre	Bildungsroman
Publication date	1959
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	196
ISBN	NA

A Separate Peace (1959) is a bildungsroman (coming-of-age novel) by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work. The title is derived from a quotation in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms in which Lt. Henry states, "I had made a separate peace," with his adversaries in World War I. The phrase also appears in the preface to Chapter VI of Hemingway's In Our Time, where Nick Adams states, "Senta. You and me we've made a separate peace."

Plot summary

The protagonist returns to his old prep school, Devon (a thinly-veiled portrayal of Knowles' own alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy), fifteen years after he graduated. He returns to visit two places he regards as "fearful sites": a flight of marble stairs, and a tree by the river. First he examines the stairs and notices that they are made of very hard marble. He then trudges through the mud to the tree. The tree brings back memories of Gene's time as a student at Devon. From this point on in the book, Gene describes the time span from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1943. In 1942, he was 16 years old and living at Devon with his best friend and roommate, Phineas (nicknamed Finny). At the time, World War II is taking place, and has a prominent effect on the story.

Gene and Phineas, despite having polar personalities, become fast friends at Devon: Gene's quiet, introverted intellectual personality complements Finny's more extroverted, carefree, athletic demeanor. During the time at Devon, Gene goes through a period of intense friendship with Finny. One of Fin's ideas during Gene's "Sarcastic Summer" of 1942 is to create a "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session", with Gene and himself as charter members. Finny creates a rite of initiation by having members jump into the Devon River from a large, high tree. He also creates a game called "blitzball" that has no winner (from the German blitzkrieg).

Their period of intense friendship was then followed by a period of intense one-sided animosity during which Gene strives to out-do Finny academically. This animosity culminates (and is ended) when one day as Phineas and Gene are about to jump off the tree, Finny falls out of the tree and shatters his leg because Gene deliberately shook the branch they were both standing on. Because of his "accident", Phineas learns from the doctor that he will never again be able to compete in sports which are most dear to him. The rest of the story revolves around Gene's attempts to come to grips with who he is, why he did what he did, and with human nature. Gene reveals that he caused Finny's fall. At first Finny does not believe him and afterward feels extremely hurt. In the end, Gene is confronted about the 'accident' by Brinker Hadley who accuses Gene of trying to kill Finny. This confrontation ends with Finny falling down a flight of stairs (the ones Gene would visit 15 years later), and again breaking the leg he had shattered before. Phineas dies during the operation to set the bone. The doctor assumes that Finny died when bone marrow entered the blood stream, because his heart suddenly stopped during the surgery. Gene doesn't cry over Finny, but learns much from how he lived his life, stating that when Finny died, he took his (Gene's) anger with him. In Finny's death, Gene could finally come to terms with himself. The book then ends with the army's parachuters "invading" Devon. Gene and Brinker are now graduated, Brinker's father is there to see them. He is clearly upset that Gene is going into the navy instead of fighting hard in the war. The book ends on a dark note.

Characters

• Gene Forrester: A Separate Peace is told from Gene's point of view. Gene focuses on, and succeeds at, academics. He envies his roommate Finny's graceful, easy athleticism and social prowess. Gene is from the South, and is therefore somewhat unaccustomed to Northeastern culture.

• Phineas "Finny": Gene's best friend and roommate, Finny is always stretching the rules and trying to persuade Gene to do the same—not to cause trouble, but to achieve personal freedom. He always sees the best in others, seeks internal fulfillment free of accolades, and shapes the world around himself to fit his desires. He is a prodigious athlete, succeeding in every sport until his leg is shattered in his fall from the tree.

• Brinker Hadley: Brinker is a classmate and friend of Gene and Finny's. He ceaselessly strives for order during the Winter Session at Devon. The main antagonist, Brinker wants to get to the bottom of Finny's accident, but it is unclear if he intended for the investigation to be a practical joke. He organizes the "midnight trial" to accuse Gene of causing Finny's accident, but ultimately reconciles with Gene, who appears to forgive Brinker both for his part in Finny's death and for the trial.

• Elwin "Leper" Lepellier: Nature-loving and strange, Leper is Finny and Gene's friend, and was a key member of the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. He is the first student in his class to enlist in the military. Late in the novel, Leper goes insane from the stress of his enlistment in the army. He is a witness at Gene's "trial", testifying that Gene was responsible for Finny's fall.

Adaptations

• In 1972, the novel was adapted into a film starring Parker Stevenson and John Heyl. Teleplay by Fred Segal and John Knowles.

• In 2004, it was adapted into a made-for-TV movie by Showtime.

• The book also inspired Meg Rosoff's 2007 novel What I Was.

See also

• Bildungsroman