The Theme Of Rivalry In A Separate Peace By John Knowles
In A Separate Peace, the author John Knowles explores the rivalry between teenagers in a military boarding school, who are preparing for the looming presence of World War II. The protagonist, Gene Forester and his friends, Brinker, Elwin and Finny, learns about the tribulations that come from leaving the innocence of adolescence and entering into the impure world of adulthood. John Knowles explores how rivalry perpetuates and embeds hatred and jealousy leading to a divide between people. The theme of a rivalry with an emphasis on the journey from innocence to experience in the context of war is shown through the use of setting, symbolism and conflict.
Setting was a very important literary device which was used by John Knowles to effectively …show more content…
Internal conflicts are portrayed through Gene and Phineas. The main causes of these conflicts were because of the rivalry amongst the two characters. Gene had always saw Finny as his competitor, who is trying to distract him from focusing on school. This internal conflict that Gene had constructed in his head can be seen, when he showed his frustration by saying: “Then a second realization broke as clearly and bleakly as dawn at the beach. Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies.. That way he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me. It was all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity” (Knowles 53). This portrays how Gene had created an internal conflict between him and Finny. Gene explained, Finny’s intentions of them being friends were all a lie, and that Finny was trying to get ahead of Gene. The constant rivalry had created a conflict between the two teenagers, which tarnished their young friendship. Furthermore, the external conflict in this novel was the World War II, which was taking place outside Devon. The external conflict did eventually affect the students inside Devon. The effect of the war was shown through Gene, in 1953 when he was 30, when he revisited Devon and he stated “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at …show more content…
The theme was represented through the use of literary devices such as : setting, symbolism and conflicts. The back drop of World War II and being surrounded in competitive school had created a sense of rivalry amongst the characters. In addition, the fascinating symbols of the river and sports had instilled the competitive nature of the characters. As their young minds, are overwhelmed with competition, they turn into evil individuals. Furthermore, the conflicts in the novel were mainly based on rivalry, which was seen inside the student and outside in the war. The contention in Devon amongst the naive teenagers was a lesson of what kids go through during
Setting was a very important literary device which was used by John Knowles to effectively …show more content…
Internal conflicts are portrayed through Gene and Phineas. The main causes of these conflicts were because of the rivalry amongst the two characters. Gene had always saw Finny as his competitor, who is trying to distract him from focusing on school. This internal conflict that Gene had constructed in his head can be seen, when he showed his frustration by saying: “Then a second realization broke as clearly and bleakly as dawn at the beach. Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies.. That way he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me. It was all cold trickery, it was all calculated, it was all enmity” (Knowles 53). This portrays how Gene had created an internal conflict between him and Finny. Gene explained, Finny’s intentions of them being friends were all a lie, and that Finny was trying to get ahead of Gene. The constant rivalry had created a conflict between the two teenagers, which tarnished their young friendship. Furthermore, the external conflict in this novel was the World War II, which was taking place outside Devon. The external conflict did eventually affect the students inside Devon. The effect of the war was shown through Gene, in 1953 when he was 30, when he revisited Devon and he stated “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at …show more content…
The theme was represented through the use of literary devices such as : setting, symbolism and conflicts. The back drop of World War II and being surrounded in competitive school had created a sense of rivalry amongst the characters. In addition, the fascinating symbols of the river and sports had instilled the competitive nature of the characters. As their young minds, are overwhelmed with competition, they turn into evil individuals. Furthermore, the conflicts in the novel were mainly based on rivalry, which was seen inside the student and outside in the war. The contention in Devon amongst the naive teenagers was a lesson of what kids go through during