Реферат: Notes For A Separate Peace Essay Research

some of the marrow had migrated into his blood stream.

Amazingly, Gene does not cry over Finny’s death; he knows that

he is too numb for tears. He also feels that he has died with Finny,

and one does not cry over one’s own death.

THEMES

Major

The novel is a coming of age story; it describes an adolescent’s

growth into maturity as he tries to come to grips with the world in

general and his own life in particular. The main theme revolves

around the pain of growing into manhood.

Minor

Closely related to the main theme of the novel is the secondary

theme related to the danger of jealousy. Although openly a friend

to Finny, Gene was really extremely jealous of this well-liked and

talented student. His jealousy was so intense that it led him to

bounce Finny out of the tree, causing him to become a cripple and

indirectly causing his death.

A second minor theme is the pain of war. The backdrop for the

entire novel is World War II, which is in sharp contrast to the

peaceful and removed environs of Devon; but as students begin to

leave the school to join the military, the separate peace of Devon is

MOOD

Since the novel is set against a background of the Second World

War and the narrator’s mind is riddled with jealousy and then guilt,

the mood is primarily one of confusion. At points in the novel, it

seems that Gene is totally unstable.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Author Information

John Knowles was born on September 16, 1926, in Fairmont, West