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A Separate Peace Identity Theme

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A Separate Peace Identity Theme
The theme of A Separate peace is self-identity. Gene goes through the same identity crisis, but his crisis resolves not around war, but Finny. Gene's admiration for and jealousy of his friend is so great that he literally loses himself in Finny. At the time when Finny is injured, he feels that he doesn't exist. Gene's personal identity is so wrapped up in Finny that in order to become an individual with his own identity, he has to destroy Finny.
The first example of identity is at the beginning when Gene wasn't sure of who he was, and basically just followed along with whatever crazy ideas Finny had come up with, such as being the first ones in their class to jump out of the tree. Gene didn't really want to, he was scared, but he did anyways

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