A Separate Peace

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• A Separate Peace

John Knowles
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A Separate Peace

• A Separate Peace is a classic story of a young
  mans emergence from adolescence. The novel is
  somewhat autobiographical, as it is based on
  Knowless own experiences as a student at
  Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire during
  World War II.

John Knowles
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Author John Knowles

• Born in 1926 in West Virginia
• Best known works are set in New England

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Knowles Childhood

• Parents were originally from Massachusetts.
• Knowles spent many summer vacations there.
• At the age of fifteen, Knowles applied to an
  elite New Hampshire boarding school, Phillips
  Exeter Academy.

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John Knowles continued

• Knowles expresses his affections and fond
  memories for his boarding school memories in A
  Separate Peace.
• Soon after Knowles entered Exeter, the U.S.
  declared war on Japan and entered World War II.
• Knowles went into the military after he graduated
  from high school and trained to be a pilot in the
  U.S. Army Air Force Aviation Program.
• When the war ended, he attended Yale University
  in New Haven, Connecticut.

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A Separate Peace

• The novel was first published in England in 1959
  and in the U.S. in 1960.
• It proved to be such a success that Knowles was
  able to resign from his job and devote his time
  to writing and travel.
• He wrote many other novels, none as successful as
  A Separate Peace.
• He lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL, before passing
  away in 2001.

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Character List

• Gene Forrester is the novel's narrator, and he
  tells the story as a flashback, reflecting on his
  days at the Devon School from the vantage point
  of adulthood.
• Finny energetic and vibrant, Finny is a
  tremendous athlete friendly and verbally adroit,
  he is able to talk his way out of any situation.

• Brinker Hadley is, in many ways, a foil to Finny.
  Also charismatic and a leader of the Devon boys,
  Brinker wields a power comparable but opposite to
  Finny's.

• Elwin Leper Lepellier is a quiet, peaceful,
  nature-loving boy.

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Internal ConflictsAccording to Knowles, the
major concern of the novel is to expose and
explore the 2 conflicting psychological forces
within the American Character

1. One is a creative and expressive force, a germ
   of wildness
2. The other, is a more conservative force that
   identifies with established institutions such as
   governments, academic settings, and accepted
   values.

• In ASP this conflict is symbolically represented
  in the personalities of the 2 main characters.
  Gene Forrester, the narrator, is the cautious
  Protestant who is both attracted to and
  frightened by the germ of wildness he sees in
  the powerful personality of his roommate,
  Phineas. Over time, each boy acquires traits from
  the other. Although the focus of the novel is on
  Genes resolution of his conflicts with Phineas,
  it is apparent that Phineas also achieves a
  separate peace.

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Setting

• Devon School in New Hampshire
• The central story begins less than a year after
  December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl
  Harbor, in Hawaii.

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WWII

• World War II September 1939 to September 1945.
• Called the World war because a majority of the
  worlds nations split into one of two opposing
  sides
• Allies- included Russia, U.S.A, United Kingdom,
  and China.
• Axis- included Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and
  Imperial Japan

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World War II

• The most devastating war in history.
• Loss of human life estimated at 72 million.
• Two-thirds of victims were civilians.
• Holocaust victims numbered in the millions.

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U.S. Involvement

• The U.S. entered the World
• War after Pearl Harbor.
• Fear of war caused many Americans to turn a blind
  eye to the conflicts overseas.
• Pearl Harbor changed everything.
• 1940 brought the first peacetime draft in the
  nations history.
• Men 21-35 years of age were required to register
  for military service.
• Age then lowered to eighteen.

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Patriotism

• Many young men couldnt wait to be drafted
  patriotism was at an all-time high.
• Teenagers often felt it was their duty to enlist.

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Patriotism and Change

• The war brought changes to the American economy
  and lifestyle.
• Need for weapons created jobs.
• Americans attended rallies, bought war bonds,
  conserved fuel and rubber by car pooling, and
  planted victory gardens.
• Society also began changing and adjusting due to
  the man shortage.
• In short, American life, as it had been, changed
  for the duration- a phrase that meant until
  the end of the war.

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External Conflicts

• The most important aspect of the novels
  background is WWII and its impact on the lives of
  young Americans. World War II began in 1939 and
  ended in 1945. ASP is set during the years 1942
  and 1943, when it seemed that the fighting might
  continue indefinitely.

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• The virtual certainty of young men being drafted
  into a bloody war upon graduation from school
  informs the background of A Separate Peace. The
  United States drafted more than ten million men
  for service in World War II of these, more than
  five hundred thousand were killed or wounded.
  Students nearing graduation-like Gene, Finny, and
  Brinker-knew they would face the draft very soon.
  Some students sought to avoid dangerous service
  in the infantry by volunteering for special
  programs before being called-for example, Leper
  Lepelliers enlistment in the ski troops and the
  plans Gene and Brinker discuss in Chapter 13.

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• World War II resulted from the threat of
  aggressive expansion in Europe by Germany and in
  the Pacific by Japan. Upon the bombing of Pearl
  Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941,
  America finally declared war in both Europe and
  the Pacific. By 1942, the year in which ASP is
  set, Germany had overrun Norway, France, Belgium,
  and the Netherlands in the west, and had thrust
  deep into Russia in the east.

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• During the period covered by the novel, the US
  was just beginning to make its presence felt by
  joining British bombers in air attacks over
  Germany. The final phase of the European war
  began on June 6, 1994, when the allies announced
  a massive invasion of Normandy. After intense
  fighting across the European continent, the war
  ended Europe on May 8, 1945 the Japanese
  surrendered some four months later.

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External Conflicts

• Another important item in the storys cultural
  background is its setting
• a private preparatory school modeled on Phillips
  Exeter and similar institutions in New England
  traditionally prepared an elite group of young
  men for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy
  League colleges. Privileged by wealth and family
  connections, their students joined exclusive
  clubs in college and then took places reserved
  for them in the business world and in the highest
  social circles. Such New England boarding schools
  have been the traditional training ground for
  Americas aristocracy. Today most preparatory
  schools are coeducational, but they still provide
  a rigorous education for a selected few.

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Major Themes
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1. Understanding conflict within yourself is a
necessary part of growing up

• What kind of inner conflicts can a person feel
  about other people/events?
• How can an inner conflict be painful or
  frightening to recognize?

• Have you ever followed an impulse to do something
  that you later regretted?
• Have you ever decided not to do something that
  you later felt you should have done?

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2. Friendship grows through conflict,
resolving differences, forgiveness, and accepting
strengths and weaknesses of each other.

• Do you think a good friendship can exist without
  conflict?
• How can conflicts between friends be resolved?

• Do you agree that a person has to accept a
  friends weaknesses as well as strengths?

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3. A persons own insecurities may cause him or
her to misinterpret a friends actions or words.

• What kind of insecurities do young people feel?

• How is it possible to misinterpret someone elses
  actions or words in terms of your own
  insecurities?

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4. Personal joys and pains are felt more strongly
than even great public events such as war.

• Do important public events such as local,
  national, or international political struggles
  seem to affect your personal life?

• Do you think the threat of war would influence
  the way you feel about your friends or classmates?

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Theme and Motif

• Theme a broad idea in a story, or a message or
  lesson conveyed by a work
• A work can have more than one theme.
• Motif a reoccurring subject, theme, or idea in a
  literary, artistic, or musical work.
• Difference between theme and motif
• Theme are ideas explored by the text.
• Motifs are reoccurring elements that represent
  ideas.

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Themes Motifs in A Separate Peace

• Themes
• Identity- The development of self in the face of
  peer pressure.
• Man vs. Self- Even in times of war, the most
  difficult battle is within the human heart.
• Motifs-
• Transformation- the characters and the school
  undergo immense changes throughout the story.
• Competition- the competitive nature of athletics
  and of friendship.

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What does it mean to identify with someone else?

• Have you ever experienced feeling so close to a
  friend that you shared the same thoughts?

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How does who you are affect what you do?

• And how do you know who you are?

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