A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Author John Knowles was born September 16, 1926 in Fairmont, West Virginia. At the age of 15, Knowles attended New Hampshire’s prestigious Philips Exeter Academy (the setting of the novel, the Devon School, is based on his experience there). Entered Yale University in 1944 and joined the U.S. Air Force shortly after Graduated from Yale with a B.A. in English in 1949 Worked for several magazines as both a writer and a critic

Publication In 1956 Cosmopolitan published Knowles’s short story, “Phineas,” which was later expanded into the novel, A Separate Peace. Novel was rejected eleven times Finally published in 1959 in London First American edition was produced in February, 1960

What the Critics Said… Immediate unanimous praise from British reviewers Compared to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye (1953) Not an immediate best seller By the 1960s a major part of high school English curriculums

Post-Publication Sold more than nine million copies to date One of the most popular texts studied in high schools Earned Knowles somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 a year in royalties Knowles went on to publish several other novels, including Peace Breaks Out, a sequel to A Separate Peace (retained the Devon School setting but had a different cast of characters) Sequel wasn’t as popular as the original

Historical Context Novel takes place in the 1940s shortly after the United States had declared its involvement in WWII; had troops in Europe and the Pacific. War brought out enormous levels of patriotism in all Americans Compulsory military draft registration was a constant concern for young men; draft dodging was virtually unthinkable

Historical Context Educational opportunities limited for African Americans and women All-white, male prep schools: upper class student’s best chance to get into the best private universities Pressure to succeed at these prep schools was great.

Setting Set in 1942 at a boy’s boarding school, Devon School, in New Hampshire Story is told as a flashback from the perspective of an older Gene – Knowles skips back and forth between the early 1940s (Gene as a teenager) and the late 1950s (Gene as an adult)

Characters Two best friends: Phineas and Gene Phineas (Finny): athletic, reckless, charismatic Gene: intellectual, shy, competitive Others: Elwin Lepellier (Leper), Brinker Hadley, Phil Latham, Mr. Ludsbery, Cliff Quackenbush, Dr. Stanpole

Theme Topics Coming of Age Guilt and Innocence War

Point of View Told in the first-person narrative style by Gene Now an adult, he is looking at things from a much wiser and more mature perspective.