A separate piece :: essays research papers

A. Title and Author - A Separate Peace by John KnowlesB. Story Setting - The stage starts off at the Devon school, which is a prep school in NewEngland at 1958. But the rest of the story takes place through a flashback of his days when hewas a student at Devon during 1943.C. Main Characters - element Forrester - Gene is the narrator of the novel and appears at twodifferent time periods as a middle-aged man re-visiting Devon fifteen years after being a studentthere, and, for the majority of the novel, as a sixteen and seventeen-year-old student during World state of war II. The novel is written in the past tense, and we assume that Genes narration is triggered byhis re-visitation of his old school when he is thirty-two. And although the older narrator seemslong past the frantic turmoil that marked his schoolboy days, the events of his years at Devonare told as if they were occurring in the present, as if our narrator were still sixteen years old. TheGene that we encounter for the mint of the novel is, like many of his classmates, at a liminal stagein his life-the adolescence between boyhood and manhood. This transition is further emphasizedby the war, Gene being in the final years of freedom before the ravages of a world war can legallyclaim him. Outwardly Gene is one of the top students in his class and a talented athlete. Thesetraits earn him respect on campus and, most importantly, the friendship of Phineas, whom Generespects more than any of his fellow classmates. But inwardly, Gene is plagued by the darkerforces of human nature, forces that prey upon the turbulence of adolescence. Genes admirationand love for Finny is balanced and marred by his fierce jealousy of him, by a deep hazard inhimself, and, because of his insecurity, a need to compete with and "defeat" his friend at all costs.Genes internal emotional battles are the major source of conflict and stress in the novel.Phineas - Called Finny by his classmates, Phineas is Genes closest c ompanion at Devon and, forour narrator, the central focus of the novel. Finny is five feet eight and a half inches tall andweighs one hundred fifty pounds. Indeed, Finny is the superhuman wonder of athletics andphysical harmony at Devon, far surpassing any competition from his classmates, Gene included.What is more, Finnys physical prowess matches that of his personality-he is a charismatic,good-natured, and cogent young man.