A Separate Peace | Themes

A Separate Peace Themes

Guilt and Innocence

In John Knowles's novel that chronicles the coming of age of two prep-school friends, one character-Finny-loses much of Ins trustfulness and innocence, while the other-Gene-progresses toward self-knowledge and maturity. That A Separate Peace takes place in the first half of the 1940s explains so many references to war. In this novel, however, the real struggle is fought in the hearts of the characters, not on the battlefield. After Gene causes Finny's crippling fall, everything that follows, as Knowles has written, is "one long abject confession, a mea culpa, a tale of crime-if a crime has been committed-and of no punishment. It is a story of growth through tragedy." While Gene does eventually reconcile to his transgression against Finny, the process takes many years. Gene obtains some peace of mind through his final encounter with Finny, in which he shows both humility and understanding of Finny's pacifist nature. But it is...
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