1. A Separate Peace

2. Setting Set at Devon, a private boarding school in New Hampshire during World War II. Begins with main characters, Gene and Finny, at Devon for a summer session. They are roommates. The summer session allows students to receive a diploma before being drafted on their 18 th birthday.

3. Major Characters Gene Forester:  the protagonist whose envy of Finny eventually leads to his untimely demise.  also suspicious of Finny's motivations since his cynical attitude causes him to think that no individual could be as completely pure as Finny.  So, he projects his own devious nature on other people.

4. Phineas:  a nonconformist who fails to acknowledge school regulations and tradition.  He is consistently late for dinner, wears the school tie as a belt, wears a pink shirt, and organizes the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session, the Winter Carnival and devises games like Blitzball.

5. Brinker Hadley:  an elitist student leader concerned about losing his power to Finny's popularity.

6. Edward Lepellier:  an isolationist ridiculed by his classmates.  Important since he was present when Finny "fell" from the oak tree.  Leper surprises his classmates by choosing to enlist in the paratroopers after watching an army recruiter video, although he later deserts the army and returns to his Vermont home suffering insanity.

7. Key Issues 1. Gene is jealous of Finny's natural athletic ability and free spirit 2. Gene believes that Finny attempts to sabotage his academic success with nights at the beach, and the Super Suicide Society. 3. Gene's insecurity is one key factor as he doubts his own abilities. 4. Gene's paranoia over his own lack of talent leads him to distrust Finny. 5. Finny's denial of the events surrounding his accident; refuses to believe Gene caused him to fall from the tree. 6. Brinker questions Finny about that day he runs from the room instead of acknowledging the truth – denial. 7. Finny’s denial of reality is Finny's inability to admit that the war exists; he claims it is a fabrication of fat old men to stop young people from enjoying themselves.

8. Conflict Develops Find significant quotes/references to support these points Conflict arises when Gene  refuses to recognize his feelings of jealousy and insecurity as the real enemy.  projects his fears onto his closest friend, Finny, whom Gene suspects possesses similar feelings of envy and self-loathing.  becomes competitive and hateful and becomes obsessed with his own survival and superiority…because he believes Finny is his enemy.

9. Denial and Jealousy Find an example or direct reference to support these general ideas – details are needed Gene’s self-deception drives him to think and act maliciously. Gene realizes his mistake and discovers that Phineas does not share Gene's envy and hatred. Gene's isolation and self-loathing deepen and he intentionally cripples the one person who wants to be his friend.

10. Conflict Reveals Theme Knowles tells what happens when adolescence confronts manhood and the fears that develop when change becomes a reality. Gene, Brinker, and Leper all become casualties of this change by convincing themselves that the enemy, the cause of their fears, lies outside of themselves.

11. Finny and Gene – conflict Is Finny in conflict with Gene?  He contrasts the self-deception of his classmates, for Finny does not see the enemy in the people around him.  He is the peace that Gene tries to achieve  He has physical grace which reflects the harmony within himself.

12. Gene’s Inner Conflict He sees Finny’s easy going harmony and yearns to be like him but he cannot attain. Gene's insecurity -- a reciprocal and non-competitive friendship becomes impossible for Gene. The two need each other and Gene often describes them as extensions of each other, the balance is unequal:  Finny needs Gene as a friend who shares the challenges of growing up and facing the reality of adulthood  but Gene's need in the friendship is born out of jealousy  he wants to be like Finny who is harmonious and confident

13. The Fall from the Tree Gene destroys the peace that he was unable to find in himself. Finny is the novel's greatest casualty. He becomes a metaphor for the peace that is lost when Gene is too afraid to identify the enemy within himself.

14. A Struggling Friendship Finny could be crippled for life – a challenge for him. He is confronted with the realization that the person he thought was his friend is responsible for his injury. This seems too great for Finny to realize. He dies as a result of the hatred and insecurity around him. Finny is Crippled

15. Gene’s struggle The peace and friendship that Gene lost, the peace that is Finny becomes for Gene so internalized that he no longer perceives Finny as separate from himself evidenced by his feeling that Finny's funeral is his own.

16. Lessons Gene's experience shows the reader the dangers of assuming what motives other people may have. Gene’s insecurity concerning his own abilities is projected on others, allowing him to believe that they are the reason for his failure. This assumption is made about Finny but the reader sees that Finny's objective was simply to enjoy his life. Finny's consistently unconcerned and apathetic attitude represented a peace that Gene could never acquire until he realized his own insecurities and jealousy.

17. Theme: The Creation of Inner Enemies The war within the human heart, a war affected by events of World War II but exists independently of any real armed conflict. For Gene—every human being goes to war at a certain point in life, when he or she realizes that the world is a fundamentally hostile place and that there exists in it some enemy who must be destroyed. The novel completely associates this realization of the necessity of a personal war with adulthood and the loss of childhood innocence. World War II deals with loss: characters react in their own way Brinker takes a stance of bravado Leper descends into madness.

18. Theme: The Creation of Inner Enemies cont’d Gene states that he fought his own war while at Devon and killed his enemy there. Finny personifies that spirit greater than Gene’s own Gene created Finny to be his enemy thus casting an unwavering shadow over Gene’s life. Gene means that this enemy was himself, his own resentful, envious nature, which he “killed” either by knocking Finny from the tree or by obtaining forgiveness from Finny for doing so. The overall theme is clear: all humans create enemies for themselves and go to war against them. Everyone, that is, except Finny, the champion of innocence, who refuses to believe that anyone could be his enemy. Finny’s death is inevitable: his innocence makes him too good for the war-torn and hostile world in which the rest of humanity lives.

19. Theme: The Threat of Codependency to Identity Central relationship -- between Finny and Gene Complex Dynamic Seeks to establish identity Seems fueled, in part, by Gene’s envy and resentment of his friend’s dominating spirit. Finny demonstrates his physical ability Gene feels the need to emphasize his academic ability. The scene immediately following Finny's fall reveals their relationship as codependent Gene dresses in Finny’s clothes and sees himself as looking exactly like him.

20. Theme: The Threat of Codependency to Identity cont’d From this point on, he and Finny come to depend on each other for psychological support. (Gene plays sports because Finny cannot) This codependency obstructs the development of their individual identities. The boys are refusing to grow up and develop their own ambitions and responsibilities. Not even Finny’s death, though it separates them physically, can truly untangle Gene’s identity from Finny’s—he feels as though Finny’s funeral is his own. In a sense, the reader realizes, the funeral is indeed Gene’s own; so much of him is merged with Finny that it is difficult to imagine one boy continuing to exist without the other. It is perhaps only his ultimate understanding that Finny alone had no enemy that allows the older Gene to reestablish a separate identity—one that he considers, however, inferior to Finny’s.

21. Theme: Innocence to Experience -- The Epiphany A coming of age story that shows the idea of growing up and accepting responsibility for one’s actions. Loss of innocence is associated with naivety and vulnerability seen through Gene, Finny and Leper. Upon Gene’s returning to Devon 15 years later, he comes to realize that he cannot be Finny and must develop his own identity. He realizes everything changes and that loss of innocence is inevitable.

22. Theme: Innocence to Experience -- The Epiphany cont’d He realizes Finny could not really grow up because of his idealistic view of life that rejected reality. He realizes his war ended at Devon:  “Because my war ended before I ever put on my uniform, I was on active duty all of my time at school; I killed my enemy there.” Part of growing up is accepting yourself for what you are both your strengths and weaknesses so there is a loss of innocence.

23. War is real and the evil in all of us is real. The novel examines the realities of war and its influences upon people. War invades the most perfect environment. References to war:  The tree was “an artillery piece” (Finny uses it to destroy Gene.)  Blitzball- (so it would deal with war.)  Finny calls Gene Gen. MacArthur when he tries to confess  Gene says “The war was and is a reality for me.”  Boys shovel railway for war effort  Brinker writes poetry about war- “ War is a bore.”  Leper enlists after seeing ski troopers (Makes war unreal for Gene to join because of film.)  Gene says Finny is unsuited for war- no hatred or malice; his character is a symbol of peace  Leper’s section 8 discharge convinces Gene of evils of war Connection to War

24. Appearances Opposed to What is Real People perceive threats when there are really none. How things appear to Gene are not in fact reality.  Gene felt that Finny was trying to drag him down when Finny organized all kinds of activities to fill in all of their free as well as study time.  Gene develops a hidden jealousy  Results in Gene jouncing the limb and causing Finny’s fall  Gene realizes afterwards that Finny was not out to get him. Finny was not in any way hostile towards Gene.  After the accident, he thought he had fallen out of the tree himself.  He refused to believe that Gene would do something of the sort. After Finny’s death Gene realized that Finny’s outlook on life and other people was justified and better than his own.

25. Other Themes Good against evil:  There is a struggle between good and evil in all of us.  Gene is caught up in a love-hate relationship with Finny, his best friend.  They are good friends,yet he cripples him perhaps out of jealousy. Jealousy: Gene is envious of Finny. Irresponsibility: Finny refuses to follow school regulations. Denial: Finny denies that Gene pushed him out of the tree, since he believes that all people are innately good. Personal Search for Identity: All major characters are in search of their identity. Insecurity: Gene is insecure about his own ability and intelligence.