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Growing Up

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Growing Up
Growing Up

Change is a part of getting older. It's inevitable. Your hair color may change, your height may change, your entire physical appearance may change. But one of the most significant changes one can go through is a change of personality or a change in your state of mind. During their summer session, and throughout their school year, Phineas, Brinker, and Leper are faced with obstacles that force them change who they are, whether they wanted it or not. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles is all about growing up, and making mistakes along the way. Three prime examples of this are, Phineas's broken leg that caused him to stop playing sports, Brinker's social status changing because of Phineas, and Leper's experience with the war, that left him emotionally scarred. Phineas broke his leg, his ability to play sports the way he once had was gone. He had to rethink his future because going to the Olympics was not an option anymore. That alone changed him. Phineas wasn't a scholar, he was an athlete. Once he lost sports, he has nothing besides his popularity. He lost one of the most important things in his life, and he had to learn to live without playing sports. He wasn't ready for this drastic change, but it changed him. He was all about playing sports, they were what ensured him a future, and then they were just gone. In A Separate Peace, Gene thought "...everything must evolve or else it perishes." And that couldn't be more true. Brinker came back to the Devon school for the first semester, and he realized that everyone continued their lives, even though he wasn't there with them. Instead of everyone stopping by his door to see what they would be doing, they stopped by Finny's. When Phineas put together the Winter Carnival, it was Brinker who brought the hard apple cider, and instead of Brinker telling everyone when to drink it, Phineas did and this made him angry. Brinker was jealous of Phineas, and ultimately caused his death. Brinker went from being on

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