A separate piece :: essays research papers

A. Title and Author - A Separate Peace by can KnowlesB. Story Setting - The story starts off at the Devon school, which is a preparation school in NewEngland at 1958. But the rest of the story takes place through a flashback of his days when hewas a savant at Devon during 1943.C. Main Characters - cistron Forrester - factor is the narrator of the impertinent and appears at twodifferent time periods as a middle-aged world re-visiting Devon fifteen years after being a studentthere, and, for the legal age of the novel, as a sixteen and seventeen-year- gray-haired student during WorldWar II. The novel is written in the past tense, and we assume that Genes narration is triggered byhis re-visitation of his old school when he is thirty-two. And although the older narrator seemslong past the wound up turmoil that marked his schoolboy days, the events of his years at Devonare told as if they were occurring in the present, as if our narrator were still sixteen years old. TheGene tha t we light touch for the bulk of the novel is, like many of his classmates, at a liminal facein his life-the adolescence between boyhood and manhood. This transition is further emphasizedby the war, Gene being in the final years of freedom before the ravages of a world war can legallyclaim him. Outwardly Gene is one of the top students in his class and a talented athlete. Thesetraits exonerate him respect on campus and, most importantly, the friendship of Phineas, whom Generespects to a greater extent than any of his fellow classmates. But inwardly, Gene is plagued by the darkerforces of human nature, forces that raven upon the turbulence of adolescence. Genes admirationand love for Finny is balanced and marred by his fell jealousy of him, by a deep insecurity inhimself, and, because of his insecurity, a need to compete with and "defeat" his friend at all costs.Genes inbred emotional battles are the major source of conflict and tension in the novel.Phineas - Called Fin ny by his classmates, Phineas is Genes closest companion at Devon and, forour narrator, the central focus of the novel. Finny is five feet eight and a half inches tall andweighs one hundred lambert pounds. Indeed, Finny is the superhuman wonder of athletics andphysical harmony at Devon, farthest surpassing any competition from his classmates, Gene included.What is more, Finnys physical prowess matches that of his personality-he is a charismatic,good-natured, and persuasive young man.