A Separate Peace (1959). Detailed description

A Separate Peace, whose title is taken from Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, centers around the complex relationship between two students at the Devon School in New Hampshire: Gene and Phineas, who is referred to as “Finny” during much of the narrative. The novel is set in a New England boarding school very much like the famed Phillips Exeter Academy (http://www.exeter.edu/), an elitist institution that has long served as a feeder school for Ivy League colleges. Significantly, Exeter’s motto, at the time of the novel’s composition and at the time Knowles attended, was Huc venite, pueri, ut viri sitis, “Come hither boys so that ye may become men.” Of course, in light of the novel, which is a coming- of-age story depicting teenagers who will soon be drafted into the Second World War, such a motto resounds with irony, for it is this movement from innocence into the horrific experience of battle that the novel depicts.

Narrated by Gene after his return as an adult to the school, Gene observes that it has taken on the qualities of a memorial or museum, lacking any sense of personal engagement or feeling. Yet this in itself intensifies Gene’s recollection of the experiences he encountered there. As Gene moves over the playing fields, he observes the dominant feature of both the narrative and the landscape: a large tree overlooking a river. This is the site of the dynamic upon which the narrative rests; at this point Gene begins to recollect 15 years prior, the time when he and Phineas successfully scaled the tree and jumped from it into the river. This challenge is normally reserved for the academy’s senior scholars, but Phineas persuades Gene to attempt it, much to the admiration and envy of his peers.

This scene establishes Gene as a conservative who does not allow for breaking rules and Phineas as a provocative catalyst, one who incites others to act contrary to their usual instincts. Of course, Gene relates all the novel’s description from an adult perspective; the novel relies heavily upon the constant dialogue between the historical and the present, and the striking contrasts between a mature man and his adolescent self. In describing his former experiences at Exeter, Gene recounts his experiences as if they occurred, not in the past, but in the present, forcing the reader to realize all Gene’s recollections are informed by his present state of mind and subject to the accuracy of his memory.

Gene’s language in this opening section emphasizes the rigid, strict, and regimented order of the Devon School and its students who are expected to succeed within its traditional, rigorous, and sports-oriented education. That Gene observes this in the present highlights the school’s adherence to its staunch conservatism and Puritanism after the boys’ departure.

Emphasizing the importance of the tree in the chronology of events and the evolution of Gene’s feelings about the past, the narrator describes the tree in military language: “It had loomed in my memory as a huge lone spike dominating the riverbank, forbidding as an artillery piece, high as a beanstalk.” With this language the tree takes on the qualities of an immense, severe mass, yet when Gene finally observes the tree, it has changed dramatically: “absolutely smaller, shrunken with age.” The tree’s change in shape emphasizes the way emotional and historical factors skew one’s memory and makes evident a dominant theme in the novel: memory and its relationship with reality.

As a consequence of their brief transgression of the rules, Gene and Phineas are prohibited from attending a formal academy event that evening. Mr. Prud’homme, one of the more senior masters, notes the boys’ absence and confronts them about it. After he inquires, Phineas concocts a ludicrous excuse yet does so with such panache that the normally stern scholar spares them punishment. This act, repeated later in the chapter after a more outlandish prank, brings about more potential conflict between the students and the authorities.

In terms of his character, Phineas is an anomaly and a rogue when compared with other students in the Devon School; his academic and sporting prowess is impressive, yet his nonconformity to expectations contrasts directly with his unerring knack of being able to flout the rules and escape without penalty. Similarly, Gene recalls that he is also treated less severely because he is not old enough to be considered for the draft and thus adopts a childlike innocence and ignorance of the escalating war, which exists outside the cloistered and enclosed walls of Devon.

After their escape without censure, the pair devise another opportunity to jump. This time the two form a group called “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session,” whose entire ethos is devoted to carrying out activities characterized by their danger and bravura. The initiation ritual for this society is straightforward: Jump from the tree. As Phineas and Gene attempt their initiation jump, Gene loses his balance before Phineas intervenes and prevents his fall, effectively saving Gene’s life. Importantly, after thanking Phineas for his actions, Gene later accuses him of deliberately creating the situation as an act that would simultaneously place Gene in danger and allow Phineas to engage in more self-aggrandizement and self promotion by acting as the hero. This sequence of events demonstrates important aspects of the text in terms of the atmosphere Knowles cultivates and his portrayal of the fickle relationships that are formed at the height of adolescence.

As the “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session” progresses and Phineas revels in both his power and his reputation among peers, an element of competition and jealousy begins to foment between him and Gene, who feels that his part of the friendship is both forced and verging on obligation, describing it as a “straitjacket.” Further examples of this simmering row include mutual accusations after the normally scholarly Gene performs poorly on a test and Phineas breaks the school swimming record during an unofficial swim but refuses to go for the record under formal conditions. During this series of antagonisms, the differences between Phineas and Gene become more evident, with Phineas seemingly a wrongly accused victim and Gene a vindictive, envious villain seeking a scapegoat for his suspicion and inferiority.

This conflict and friction between the two are important as they foreshadow a future encounter that will force these problems to the surface. When the clash occurs, it reveals a malevolent and vicious part of Gene’s personality. As Phineas and Gene climb the tree to jump once more, they mirror the earlier climb when Phineas saved Gene’s life. In this instance, Gene shakes the limb; Phineas falls from the tree and shatters his leg. Whether Gene intended to cause Phineas to fall is never clear. This deliberate ambiguity opens a space for the reader to interpret the actions, but the event weighs heavily on Gene’s conscience. The importance of this point in the narrative is highlighted by Knowles’s lengthy and extensive psychological examination of his protagonist: first Gene’s denial of complicity and culpability, then his paranoia regarding the revealing of the truth by his peers, and finally his dressing in Phineas’s clothes. In reference to his final act, Gene declares he “would never stumble through the confusions of [his] own character again,” yet it is clear the delusions he suffers indicate a crisis of identity.

Phineas does not return to Devon for the start of the new term, leaving Gene to occupy their double room. As Gene progresses through the opening of the term, it becomes apparent that the relaxing of the standards during the summer has precipitated problems among the students; hence the masters (teachers) now exact a greater degree of severity with recalcitrant students. In an atmosphere of greater tension and suspicion, Brinker Hadley visits Gene and immediately accuses him of deliberately causing Phineas’s accident to obtain his room. Gene reacts with a series of fervent protestations and, because Brinker’s comments torment his already guilty conscience, he attempts to distract Brinker by suggesting they go and smoke in the Butt Room in the lower reaches of the building. When they are both ensconced, Brinker openly declares Gene’s guilt in front of his peers, creating a mock trial. His peers participate with a direct line of questioning about his “crime,” and Gene maintains the conceit, hiding the genuine guilt by responding with sarcastic remarks. His successful refutation of the accusations leads him to think that the suspicions dogging him have dissipated, but he remains disturbed by the incident.

By this point in the narrative, the war has escalated and impinges upon the students’ lives; with patriotic fervor, their peers and relatives enlist to go to war. This in itself causes further intergenerational conflict, with staff and students’ clashing about questions of duty. Gene sees his fellow student, Leper, leave the academy and enter the service, while his own decision is prolonged by Phineas’s return to Exeter. The narrative and plot accelerate toward their conclusion as the war’s influence and eventual end near. Chronologically, time moves swiftly, and Gene enters the armed service after his graduation. But his training proves to be in vain as the war finishes and he fails to see active service.

After his discharge, Gene visits Leper at his home in Vermont. Leper has been discharged from the service for health reasons, and this seems to have resulted in the deterioration of his mental faculties. Leper levels the same accusation at Gene as Brinker, namely, citing his involvement in Phineas’s injury, to which Gene reacts violently and attacks Leper before swiftly apologizing. Symbolically, Leper represents the war’s effects on the young generation, the corruption of innocence through harsh reality. Yet despite using such a damning symbol for the effects of war, Knowles then provides Leper with a moment of acute analysis and perception as he refers to Gene: “You always were a savage underneath,” he tells Gene, “a swell guy, except when the chips were down.” This in itself is as precise a commentary on Gene’s instability and unpredictability as can be found in the narrative, a foretelling of the final act in the text.

After they return, Brinker confronts Gene once more, as though he has began to represent a symbol of youthful conscience. Gene again rejects this notion, and Brinker forces the culmination of this ongoing inquisition by dragging both Gene and Phineas into the “First Building,” to which Brinker has retained access. Brinker calls the ubiquitous Leper as his witness, given that he was present when Phineas was injured. After Leper reveals that he saw Gene deliberately push Phineas, the convalescing victim rushes out of the room, freakishly falling on the steps outside and breaking his leg once more. After he is transported to a hospital, Phineas becomes agitated and emotional when Gene arrives to visit him.

The doctor informs Gene that Phineas must undergo an operation, and Gene leaves, concerned about the reception he received. Upon his return, Gene is informed that Phineas died during surgery; the war claims a victim who was not even in the combat zone. Throughout this swift yet somber conclusion there is a dual sense of mourning and reconciliation, from Gene’s reaction after speaking with Phineas at the hospital to his recounting of their relationship as he walks around the notable spots where they spent their formative times. For Gene, the gym had “a significance much deeper and far more real than [he] had noticed before,” and the landscape has become “intensely meaningful.” Both seem as if they would tell him something “very pressing and entirely undecipherable.” In the wake of wars mental and physical, having found a peace within himself, Gene is now ready to listen.

For Discussion or Writing
1. As the title of the novel is derived from Hemingway, read A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway’s bitter remembrance of the atrocities of war. After reading the book, speculate why Knowles borrowed this title. Does the title convey something integral to the novel? Does it reveal anything about the novel’s protagonist? Weigh these issues as you formulate a response.

2. Both A Separate Peace and J. D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye are concerned with alienated adolescence in postwar America. With this in mind, contrast the two works, evaluating how each deals with alienation within that cultural context. How do the two works intersect; how do they diverge from one another?

3. Critics have debated whether Phineas and Gene are homosexuals, or whether their relationship contains elements of homoerotic desire. While for some critics this way of interpreting the novel is fruitless, for others it is a profitable way of approaching fraternity, one of the novel’s many themes. What does the novel have to say about fraternity: the need for brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie?

4. Discuss whether A Separate Peace could be considered an antiwar novel, with its emphasis on characters’ denial, trauma, and its ultimately tragic conclusion.

5. Both Gene and Phineas are flawed characters in their own way, be it through jealousy or egotism. Discuss the convergences and departures in their relationship throughout and whether the conclusion is “satisfactory.”

6. The speaker of Robert Frost’s poem “Birches” longs to recapture the innocence of youth. Throughout the poem the speaker contrasts the ideal with the real. Read “Birches” and compare Frost’s vision of lost youth with Knowles’s depiction of lost youth in A Separate Peace. What do these two works share? How could “Birches” be used as an introduction to Knowles’s novel?