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Quotes From A Separate Peace

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A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a fictional book about Gene Forrester, a student at Devon Private Boarding School. This story takes place during the 1940s when World War II was becoming more and more a part of daily life at Devon. The war encroaches and finally dominates the lives of the boys at Devon. Starting with the boys shoveling snow off of the train tracks, then their friend, Leper, enlists, and finally troops get permanently stationed at Devon. Shoveling snow and picking apples was how Gene and his classmates did there part for the war effort. On page 92 of A Separate Peace Gene narrates “In the same way war, beginning almost humorously with announcements about maids and days spent apple-picking, commenced its invasion of the school, the early snow was commandeered as its advance guard.” This quote shows that the boys at Devon had kept the war at the back of their minds but the snow has brought the war to the forefront of their everyday thoughts. …show more content…

On page 201-202 of A Separate Peace Gene narrates “I myself had often been happy at Devon, but such times it seemed to me that afternoon were over now.” This quote shows how Gene was changed from a carefree student to a worried soon-to-be solider. The troops only add to the feelings of sadness because of Finny's death since Gene sees what the future holds. Overall, John Knowles’ fictional book A Separate Peace has many themes. One of the prevailing themes is that of the imminent war and enlistment. The war encroaches and finally dominates the boys lives at Devon. Starting with the boys shoveling snow off of the train tracks, then their friend, Leper, enlists, and finally when troops get permanently stationed at Devon. This story is relatable to teens that are the same age as Gene since they do not constantly think about war but as they get older they start to think more and more about

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