Реферат: A Separate Peace Three Symbols Essay Research

A Separate Peace: Three Symbols Essay, Research Paper

A Separate Peace: Three Symbols

The three dichotomous symbols in A Separate Peace by John Knowles

reinforce the innocence and evil of the main characters, Finny and Gene. Beside

the Devon School flow two rivers on opposite sides of the school, the Naguamsett

and the Devon. The Devon provides entertainment and happiness for Gene and

Finny as they jump from the tree into the river and hold initiations into the

Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. Finny, Gene, and their friends use

the Devon’s warm water to play in during the carefree summer session. The Devon

brings out Finny’s carefree character and personality when he jumps from the

limbs of the tree. Not one Upper Middler in Devon has ever jumped from the

tree; Finny becomes the first. After surfacing, Finny says that jumping from

the tree causes the most fun he has had in weeks. However, the Naguamsett and

the Devon completely contrast. When Gene and Finny emerge from the Devon, they

feel clean and refreshed. However, Gene describes the Naguamsett as “ugly,

saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed” (68). When Gene starts a fight

with Quackenbush and falls into the Naguamsett because Quackenbush calls Gene “a

maimed son-of-a-bitch,” Gene surfaces from the Naguamsett feeling grimy, dirty

and in desperate need of a bath (71). Much like the clean, refreshing water of

the Devon and the ugly saline water of the Naguamsett, Gene’s carefree attitude

of the summer session vastly differs from the angry, confused attitude of the

winter session.

Likewise, the two sessions, the summer and winter, give a different

sense of feeling toward school and life at Devon School. The summer session

allows Finny to use his creativity. Finny invents blitzball and founds the

Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. The students let their carefree

attitudes flow during the summer. Finny and Gene willingly break the rules to

have fun during the summer by skipping class and going to the beach. Finny also

wears the school tie as a belt to the traditional term tea. Gene feels that

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