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A Separate PeaceJohn Knowles

A Separate Peace: Introduction

A Separate Peace: Introduction

Gene doesn’t know whether he hates his best friend or if he loves him.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

Gene and Phineas are roommates at a boarding school for boys somewhere in New England.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

While Gene excels at both sports and academics, everyone agrees that Phineas is the most gifted athlete in the school.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

To Gene, Phineas moves through school and life effortlessly and according to his own set of mysterious rules.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

Phineas seems not to care what other people want or expect.

And he can charm other people into saying and doing things they wouldn’t normally say or do—people like classmates, teachers, and Gene himself.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

Gene does not know what to think of Phineas.

Sometimes he believes that Phineas likes him and truly wants the best for him.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

But sometimes he is convinced that Phineas wants to sabotage his academic success.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

When Phineas persuades Gene to climb a large tree, Gene’s confusion leads to a terrible accident.

A Separate Peace: Introduction

Will Gene ever tell Phineas the truth about what happened?

A Separate Peace: Background

A Separate Peace centers on the friendship between Gene and Phineas, but the plot also is shaped by the setting.

The book begins in the summer of 1942, in the early years of World War II.

A Separate Peace: Background

Gene, Phineas, and their friends are attending a special summer session at the school.

The summer session is designed to help some of the older boys graduate sooner and free them for military service.

A Separate Peace: Background

As the months pass, Gene and his friends become more and more aware of their impending enlistment.

The knowledge that they will soon go to war changes the way they think and the way other people think about them.

A Separate Peace: Background

World War II changed many aspects of American society as well.

A Separate Peace: Background

Unemployment fell, since many people went to work in factories producing goods for the war.

But sugar, coffee, tires, and other items were rationed, and Americans were encouraged to grow their own vegetables in “victory gardens.”

A Separate Peace: Background

After German submarines were sighted off the coast of the United States, the country instituted a “dimout,” which extended fifteen miles inland from the Atlantic Coast.

Discuss (1)

Think about your friends. How well do you get along with them? How well do you think you know them? How well do you think they know you?

Have you ever had a secret from someone you cared about? Did you decide to tell him or her the secret in the end? Why or why not?

A Separate Peace: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)

How would you respond if you knew that you would soon have to participate in a war?

How do you think it would change your outlook on life?

A Separate Peace: Discussion Starters