A Separate Peace Characters & Theme

Gene Forester Unreliable Narrator/protagonist Gene is in his early thirties, visiting the Devon School for the first time in years. Flashbacks to a story of his childhood from the vantage point of adulthood. Has love-hate relationship with his best friend Finny Gene is also often jealous of Finny because he is good at everything and so carefree

Finny Honest, handsome, energetic, self-confident, best athlete in the school Extremely likable – able to talk his way out of any situation Gene describes Finny like that of a Greek hero (always excelling physically, always spirited.) Finny loves the thrill of competition and does not care about winning/losing Always thinks the best of people, counts no one as his enemy, and assumes that the world is a fundamentally friendly place.

Ellwin “Leper” Lepellier Quiet, peaceful, nature-loving boy Shocks his classmates by being 1st in Devon to enlist in the army Shocks them again by deserting army shortly after joining Leper has hallucinations that reflect the fears and angst of adolescence He fears transformation of boys into men—and, in wartime, of boys into soldiers, which causes anxiety and inner turmoil.

Brinker Hadley Straight-laced and conservative. Complete confidence in his own abilities Believes in justice and order and goes to great lengths to discover the truth when he feels that it is being hidden from him.

Cliff Quakenbush Manager of the crew team Boys at Devon have never liked Quackenbush Frequently takes out his frustrations on anyone whom he considers his inferior

Chet Douglass Gene’s main rival for the position of class valedictorian Excellent tennis and trumpet player and possesses a sincere love of learning.

Mr. Ludsbury The master in charge of Gene’s dormitory Stern disciplinarian

Dr. Stanpole Devon’s resident doctor Caring man who laments the troubles that afflict the youth of Gene’s generation. Operates on Finny after his fall out of the tree

Mr. Patch-Withers The substitute headmaster of Devon during the summer session. Runs the school with a lenient hand

Recap: Theme & Motif Theme: a broad idea in a story, or a message or lesson conveyed by a work A work can have more than one theme. Motif: a reoccurring subject, theme, or idea in a literary, artistic, or musical work. Difference between theme and motif: Theme are ideas explored by the text. Motifs are reoccurring elements that represent ideas.

Reflection Central to the novel. Novel is spawned by a visit back to Gene’s old school where Gene confesses that he is still stuck in the time of WWII. His ability to recall things that happened 15 years ago is tremendous. Gene reiterates his thoughts on the past and on the lasting impact of the events he describes.

Reality vs. Memory Gene shows how memory can be tinged by feelings that change how reality is perceived and recalled. It shows us the readers how things can be obscured or emphasized in the memory via emotional factors. Gene remembers his old campus one way, yet when he visits, he finds it quite different; this happens often, as things can seem less imposing or important when revisited, yet be so huge in one’s memory.

Rebellion vs. Conformity Gene is naturally a rule-abiding person. Finny has an absolute disregard for rules. This theme is evident in the differences between the summer session and the fall session. Finny embodies both, as he is able to fit in well enough at school, yet hold his own very eccentric opinions.

Innocence vs. Age Gene tells of how they were children set apart from adults by their lack of knowledge of the war and their refuse to abandon to their own small, happy worlds. Huge difference between the semi-military drills that the seniors endure versus the lackadaisical activities of the happy, peace enveloped juniors. Just as the war encroaches the boys, their adulthood looms before them; Gene feels this especially. Leper is traumatized by being thrown into adulthood. Throughout the novel, Gene notes the difference between who he is now, 15 years after Devon and who he was while at school. He can identify the differences between the way he is, the way he was, and how age has changed him.

Conscience & Guilt These two haunt Gene especially; he feels a great deal of sorrow for what he did/what happened to Finny. He cannot face his sense of responsibility and get rid of his guilt. Gene is not a bad person, he does have a conscience, and does feel remorse but he cannot face that part of himself that is guilty of what happened.

Gene & Finny as Foils Even though Gene and Finny are close, they are very different in many ways. Gene is academic/Finny is athletic Gene is a hard worker/Finny is not Gene follows the rules/Finny breaks them Gene heeds authority figures/Finny does his best to ignore them The pair get along well BUT they seem to have little in common aside from their differences. The differences in their natures and their reactions to Finny’s accident and to the war show them as two contrasting people, as their differences, taken together, make a vivid portrait of two very different people.

Time Passing Things change a great deal over time- Gene knows he has changed and grown up, the school has changed for him, he cannot regain the old glory it had once. Gene makes mention of Finny’s accident and how it marked the beginning of adulthood and disillusionment. Even from summer session to fall, much has changed. The boys are unable to regain a sense of peace and security they had over the summer. Once past, things cannot be regained: youth, peace, and innocence are transitory, as the passing of time overwhelms them and makes them unrecoverable.

War & Peace Throughout Gene’s schooling, war threatens to break in and destroy the fragile peace of the school. The summer session represents the height of peace- nothing was able to interrupt the carefree joy of those days. As the fall session begins, war slowly begins to encroach on the boys; they start their “physical hardening” at the school, recruitment officers start to come around, the boys begin to talk of enlisting and the draft. The divide between peace and war is representative of the gap between childhood and adulthood; while peace holds out, the boys are free to be oblivious to the outside world. But when confronted by the war, they have to grow up; the strain changed them from children to adults and obliterates the peace of their youth.

Appearance vs. Reality Book is made up of Gene’s “recollections”- the contents, events, and characters are all filtered through his individual POV. Gene tries to present himself as a rule-abiding, nice kind of person; however, he is sometimes spiteful, jealous, and has quite a temper when he is stirred up. Gene is not a totally good person. Gene also represents Finny as a happy-go-lucky sort who has been through few problems and has no inner struggles. Finny is far more complex than Gene would like to believe him to be; and what is on the surface sometimes does not denote what is hidden underneath.

Change Under Crisis Many of the boys ‹including Leper, Gene, and Finny ‹are forced to change when they come upon some sort of crisis situation, or some test of their characters. Under the duress of having entered the military, Leper loses his quiet innocence and becomes confused and angry. Finny's happiness and peace are shattered by Gene's hurtful actions against him. Gene becomes a better, more forgiving person because of Finny. As Gene says, all of the boys at the school will change when they discover some oppressive, overwhelming force in the world; change is inevitable, as the boys in the book discover for themselves.