In A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester reflects back on his life at the Devon School in New England, 15 years in retrospect. He shares memories about the jumping tree by the Devon River. Gene is set apart as the introvert while Finny is outgoing. He and Finny jump off of the tree together while others are too scared. Jumping becomes a nightly occurrence with the formation of 5S. Gene becomes stressed that 5S is taking him away from his studies, so he causes Finny to fall from the jumping tree.

Finny is away for the rest of the summer and part of fall and Gene can concentrate on school. Gene visits Finny once at Finny’s house to tell him that he caused the accident, but Finny refuses to listen. Once Finny returns, he says he’s going to train Gene for the ’44 Olympics as it was a dream for him. Later that winter, Finny sets up the Winter Carnival. At the carnival, Gene gets a telegram from Leper to see him. Leper said he’d “escaped” from the army after having enlisted earlier in the year. When Gene sees Leper at his Vermont home, Leper seems irrational and “psycho.” He talks about seeing objects as human body parts or putting a woman’s face on a man’s body.

After Gene returns, he spends time with Finny until Brinker and some other boys come get them late in the night. They take Finny and Gene to the Assembly Room in the First Building. They have an “inquiry” into Finny’s accident and after Leper’s testimony, Finny comes to the realization that Gene caused his accident. Finny rushes out of the room and falls down the marble staircase. He later dies during the operation to set his leg when marrow in his bloodstream stops his heart. Gene doesn’t mourn over Finny and realizes that he’s the one who killed Finny, his enemy.

A Separate Peace, full of potential but it lacked that push. The rising action kept me hooked, but it ended anticlimactically. The cause and abruptness of Finny’s death left me dazed and confused (I’m in a Led-Zeppelin mood right now). I wish that the author had given something more common to make the death seem real. I never bought into Finny’s illusions, but I found his death the closest thing to an illusion in the book.

If I could change anything, it would be the characters. The setting was interesting and well-described. The plot seemed finely crafted, if a bit lacking in the end, but God help the characters. I’ll tackle my least favorite first: Brinker Hadley. No one can stand to read this mean little boy. He is rude and it gets old. He is all politics and all his actions are based on making himself look better. I know that every book needs an antagonist, but there can still be likable qualities. For instance, the Emperor from Star Wars is a pretty bad dude, but everyone envies his power and the awesomeness that accompanies it. The Joker, also bad, yet he has this dark humor and wit that makes his character interesting. Even Peter from Ender’s Game is not entirely unlikable due to his guile and conniving ways. Brinker has none of this. He doesn’t have power, he only thinks he’s funny (which he’s not), and he lacks guile. Frankly, it’s annoying to read about him. It makes me angry when he walks into a scene, because he ruins it and adds nothing for being there but uninteresting conflict. As for Gene and his crazy compadre Lepper, I always felt that they had way too many yelling matches but that’s all I can pin on them. Finny was golden, but I think he charmed me into liking him.

I wouldn’t recommend this book, because the author, John Knowles, thinks he is smarter than you. It may be true as he’s an educated man. Nonetheless, there is nothing worse than reading a book written by a snobby, old man. It’s okay, perhaps, others enjoy this book more and I’m simply jealous and stupid.

1. Men never want to admit that they’re intimidated or scared. It is a sign of weakness and as humans it’s always best to be viewed as strong. Especially for anyone who holds a position of leadership, official or unofficial. Finny serves as the leader of the 5S and doesn’t want the other boys to think that he is apprehensive about jumping from the tree.

“The tree was tremendous, an irate, steely black steeple beside the river … No one but Phineas could think up such a crazy idea. He of course saw nothing the slightest bit intimidating about it. He wouldn’t, or wouldn’t admit if he did. Not Phineas” (Knowles 14).

2. Humans recognize their imperfections and desire the qualities they do not have. They seek to be like others who have these qualities whether it be athleticism, scholarship, or merely an interesting personality. Gene is smart, but isn’t too social or well-liked. Finny however is social and well-liked and Gene desires those qualities.

“I [Gene] decided to put on [Finny’s] clothes … The rich material against my skin excited a sense of strangeness and distinction … I was Phineas, Phineas to the life” (62).

3. Humans are social creatures and want to be around each other even if that means abandoning obligations for more enjoyable ones. Having fun occasionally takes priority over things such as studying. Finny and Gene go to the jumping tree and cut class instead of dedicating ample time to homework and studying.

Finny decides not to study for a French test, rationalizing that he’ll do poorly anyway. However, wanting his best friend with him, he pulls Gene away with him to the jumping tree.

Gene and Finny are the two main characters and come across as complete opposites. Gene is introverted and values learning. He prefers to think through things and make rational decisions. However, Gene is not strong-willed. He is easily pressured by Finny which isn’t good for him in the long run. Rather than reason which rule to break and why it’s worth breaking, Gene goes into periods of either abiding the rules or breaking them. When he follows rules, he does it without question and usually only without Finny around. Yet, when he breaks rules, he usually only does it because Finny asks him to and with little other reason. He is capable of thinking for himself, but doesn’t put any of his thoughts into action, preferring to follow the whims of Devon or Finny.

Finny is the opposite. He is extroverted and values athletic ability. Finny often doesn’t think through things, particularly the consequences of his actions and pulls along anyone with him which is usually Gene. This also reveals his irresponsibility as he isn’t concerned whether others following him will get in trouble.  As well, he creates his own reality, fabricating stories in his head so that he doesn’t have to face the truth. He does this with the war and Gene jouncing the tree limb. For Finny, life is the present and the future is a far off period that won’t come or when it does he can simply find another escape from it. Eventually, he won’t be able to run and he should grow up a little.