A Separate Peace: Exploring Two Separate Personalities

A Separate Peace: Exploring Two Separate Personalities

By Sam Newman

I read  A Separate Peace, written in 1959 by John Knowles, which is about two boys who are

roommates at a boarding high school in the Northeast U.S. during the time of World War II.

Despite being best friends, they have very different personalities. Gene (the story is told in

first-person from his perspective) is academically ambitious, achievement-oriented, and shy;

and his friend Finny is athletic, fearless, and outgoing. The book is really a contrast between

these two personalities, as illustrated by the establishment of the two main characters and their

relationship, as well as the two major settings in which the climactic events take place.

With regard to the establishment of the main characters and their relationship, the beginning of

the book presents many examples where Gene observes that Finny is naturally good at

athletics and social situations, while never really needing to try very hard. Finny’s fearlessness

is shown by breaking school rules (missing dinner, wearing the school tie as a belt), while his

social prowess is shown by how he gets away with it and does not get in trouble. Finny’s

athleticism is demonstrated when he wins every sports game at school and breaks the school

swimming record without even trying, then humbly asks Gene not to tell anyone. In contrast,

Gene is an introverted bookworm who only gets good grades because he puts in a lot of effort.

Gene has anxiety about trying to look better than others (in terms of grades), while Finny seems

to be modest and not care if others see him as the best. Gene lacks Finny’s athletic abilities,

social skills, and carefree attitude. The contrast between the two characters is important
because it creates the defining feature of their relationship and the main conflict of the plot:

Gene’s resentment and jealousy of Finny.    

The contrast between the two personalities is also revealed in the two settings where the most

climactic events occur: in a tree by the river, and on the marble staircase in the school. Near the

start of the book (on the third page), the author introduces these two settings when an adult

Gene visits the school 15 years after his graduation, and says that the tree was smaller than he

remembered and the staircase was harder than he remembered. In my interpretation, the

setting of the tree represents Finny’s personality, because it was a place where the boys

climbed to a great height and jumped into the river. That is, it represents athleticism,

fearlessness, and youth. Similarly, I think the setting of the marble staircase in the school

represents Gene’s personality. That is, it represents achievement-orientation and the desire to

get to the top academically. It is also hard and cold. The setting of the tree by the river is

important in the story because it is the location where one of the main conflicts of the

plot--Gene’s jealousy toward Finny--gets resolved (although I won’t spoil how this conflict gets

resolved, I will say that I was not expecting it). Interestingly, in this book when the first conflict

gets resolved it creates a new conflict in the boys’ relationship. The setting of the marble

staircase is the location where the second conflict gets resolved (also in a way I was not

expecting). The first setting (the tree) causes the boys’ relationship to almost break, and the

second setting (the staircase) ultimately leads the relationship to be redeemed.

The book A Separate Peace is popular with young adults, perhaps because they can identify

with both of the main characters’ personalities. I believe most people are on a spectrum

between Gene’s personality and Finny’s personality, which enables them to relate to both

characters. Young adults also sometimes struggle with their own identities--for example,

deciding whether to be more like Gene or more like Finny--and this book can help people think

about the struggle between the two.