As Ernest Hemingway wisely proclaimed, “All truly evil things begin in innocence” (Hemingway 73). The truth in Hemingway's words is that almost everything begins as pure and true, and only through a series of components does it transform into something that could be described as "nasty." The most common of these components in human beings is the end of youth and ignorance in the form of adolescence. The majority siphons off the innocence that initially resided within a person as they grow, becoming more aware of their surroundings and themselves. This concept is illustrated in John Knowles' novel A Separate Peace, a story of individual growth amid the chaos of World War II at Devon Academy, a prestigious all-boys school in New England. Protagonist Gene Forrester and his best friend Phineas confront the darker side of adolescence in this poignant and evocative parable. The widespread destruction that occurred in the distant war is reflected in the more local and personal damage that characters such as Gene and Phineas suffer in everyday life; war itself is another element that contributes to the ruin of innocence. The events of a summer, like the World War, banish the innocence of these boys and their world. With the dynamic and evolving characters of the novel, John Knowles develops the quintessence of the Bildungsroman to demonstrate the fall of innocence in the face of adolescence during wartime. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Before Gene and Phineas share the ultimately fatal incident in the tree, Gene ignores the suffering; he is childish, fearful and insecure. Adolescence is a difficult time for all young people, but coming of age during wartime presents unique pressures. At the very beginning of the novel, a tree overlooking the Devon River, used as part of an obstacle course preparing the senior class for recruitment, triggers war within Gene when his friend Phineas, known as Finny, challenges him to jump into the river. of one of its highest branches. The tree, a biblical symbol referring to the story of the Garden of Eden, represents temptation for Gene: "...it is the means by which Gene will give up the Eden-like summer peace of Devon, and , in doing so, both will fall from innocence and at the same time, he prepares for World War II” (Ellis 79). Gene eventually gives in to this temptation, saying, “With the feeling of wasting my life, I jumped into space…I felt good” (Knowles 17). However, Gene did not waste his life, only beginning to demonstrate his insecurity by feeling threatened by both Finny's challenge and the natural obstacle the tree represented. In continuing his actions nonetheless, he puts aside his fear in a gesture characteristic of an inexperienced adolescent, and in recognizing that indulging in this temptation was satisfying to him, he is just beginning to learn what he is capable of giving in to, no . the consequences matter. Additionally, as the novel's early chapters progress, it becomes apparent that Gene is hiding a deep resentment toward Finny, jealousy of his athleticism, spiritual purity, self-confidence, and laid-back nature that he could never reach. These feelings are pushed aside so as not to be apparent to Finny, classmates and teachers, and even Gene himself, but they are subtly recognizable as the storyline follows Gene's own stream of consciousness. Gene shows his uncertainty when he asks himself questions such as: “Why did I let Finny talk me into doing such stupid things? Did he have some kind of hold over me? (Knowledge 17). These unanswered questions prove not only Gene's problems with Finny, but also his feeling of losing control of his very being. The opening of the novel highlights some characteristic negative traits belonging to Gene, "...his fear of not measuring up in the eyes of his peer group, his latent hostility and envy towards Finny, and his tendency to use indirect responses such as than sarcasm in verbal retaliation” (Bryant 43). There are also physical symbols in the boys' weight and height that illustrate Gene's lack of growth at this point in the plot. Gene claims to be five feet nine inches tall until Finny, "...said in public with this simple and shocking self-acceptance, 'No, you're the same height as me, five-eight and a half'" (Knowles 16 ), revealing in Gene's little lie his adolescent insecurity and his intention to obtain the slightest advantage over Finny. Another example includes Finny's 150 pounds compared to Gene's 140 pounds, symbolic of the fact that “Finny is a 'bigger' person than Gene in terms of spirit; he has a bigger heart and more magnanimity, which would symbolically explain his greater weight” (Bryant 43). The physical similarities between the two make the psychological differences more pronounced, with the major difference being that Gene lacks the security and trust of his friend. Additionally, Finny's personality accentuates Gene's naivety and youthful behavior, his overall ignorance which allows him to be characterized as innocent, in the scene where Finny insists on wearing his pink shirt, a radical fashion item for him. 'era. Gene states that the flamboyant shirt "makes him look like a fairy" (Knowles 24), but Finny's humorous responses show that he is not intimidated by the taunts and is more confident in himself and his sexuality than Gene. Even more confusing to Gene than the shirt itself is Finny's insistence that it is an emblem, telling Gene that he "read in the paper the other day that we bombed Central Europe for the first time” (Knowles 24). Finny's unusual display of patriotism and celebration of overseas achievements during the war make Gene uncomfortable; he knows that he does not have the courage to be indifferent to the judgments brought against him or to contribute to the "war effort" when he is just beginning to wage war against the changes taking place within him . Therefore, Knowles reveals in the first part of the book the starting point of Gene's change, the callous base from which he will grow. The point of rising action in A Separate Peace develops from the most primitive but complex event in the novel - Phineas' "fall" from the symbolic tree and, subsequently, Gene's fall of innocence and ignorance. Before Gene causes Finny's devastating fall from the tree to the river, his envy, confusion, conflict, and anger boil over. He experiences absurd paranoia and says to himself: “Finny had deliberately decided to destroy my studies… This way, he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me. It was all a cold deception, it was all calculated, it was all enmity” (Knowles 53). Gene confronts Finny in an attempt to force him to confirm his motives for creating all of his unique "extracurricular activities" that he believes would prepare them for war, such as blitzball, the Super Suicide Society, and spending the night on a nearby beach. . When Gene realizes during the confrontational conversation that it is entirely one-sided – Finny never intended to upset him, Finny has noresentment or jealousy towards him – his spirit is crushed. Gene now understands that he is "not of the same quality" (Knowles 59) as Finny, and that he is "...not capable of maintaining the spiritual purity that distinguishes Phineas and must therefore, when he discovers his own savagery, betray Phineas” (Ellis 80). ). This betrayal manifests itself when Finny asks Gene to "double jump" from the tree with him, a sign of Finny's lenient interpretation of their friendship, and Gene complies, only to jostle the branches where Finny falls. stands ready to jump, knocking him over. landing awkwardly on the river bank and breaking the bones in his left leg. The act is obviously not premeditated; he cannot stand his inferiority to Finny, and so, impulsively and reflexively, brings Finny back to a status in which he can compete with him again. It was at this point that Gene completely pushed his innocence and peace of mind away by practically pushing Finny figuratively out of his superiority and literally out of the tree; this serves as Gene's initiation into "the ignorance and moral darkness of the human heart" (Ellis 82). This demonstrates that “the price of peace is self-awareness” (Weber 55). In order for Gene to secure his own individuality, he unconsciously needs to relegate Finny, who represents aspects of Gene's personality, such as intuitiveness, purity, and sensitivity, that must be eliminated in order to participate in the war. which rages. overseas. Additionally, the pink shirt scene, as well as an intimate scene on the beach in which Finny sincerely tells Gene that he is his best friend without receiving a response, are crucial in establishing that Gene is not all made comfortable with his sexuality, an intuition which, as previously mentioned, may be linked to adolescent insecurity. Gene's reflexive elimination of Finny has the potential to be linked to his destruction of his most intimate emotions that make him vulnerable; Vulnerability is not a desirable quality for a young person who knows he or she will soon be thrust into a horrific war. Next comes Gene's rebirth, his baptism by jumping into the river immediately after Finny's fall. This leap into the water below is the leap into adulthood; this is Gene's first act since the beginning of the novel that he is absolutely sure of, as he recounts: "With reckless certainty, I stepped to the side and jumped into the river, all trace of my forgotten fear” (Knowles 60). ). Gene's jump is a rite of passage for him, and the water he jumps into cleanses him of his youth, changing his understanding of himself and the world that comes with the transition from innocence to experience. The symbol of baptism signifies the restoration of Gene's life and the beginning of his new identity (Foster 153-160). The irony is that the tree is both the platform for temptation and baptism. Additionally, the tree is important throughout Gene's life because "...it is by turns an occasion for danger, friendship, betrayal, and regret" (Wolfe 101), all typical characteristics of the maturation and the transition to adulthood. highlighting the use of a form of literary Bildungsroman plot. It must be remembered that the basis of this event around which the exemplum is formed is fear – fear of the next war service, of losing one's individuality and entering the adult world. After Finny's real fall and Gene's symbolic fall, Gene achieves catharsis. facing the loss of innocence, ignorance and ultimately Finny himself as the war and Gene's adolescence come to an end. As Finny recovers from his injury, Gene is consumed by guilt and regret. No one knows he was the reason for Finny's injury, not even Finny, until the pointclimax of the novel in which a group of Devon boys accuse Gene, causing an injured and disconcerted Finny to struggle to get away from them all, only to fall. walk down a marble staircase, advance his injury and later die in surgery. Gene realizes his own moral ugliness in the very first conversation he shares with Finny since the fall: "He was never going to accuse me...and I thought we were competitors!" It was so ridiculous I wanted to cry” (Knowles 66). Even now, Gene can't stand Finny's spiritual purity. His temporary solution to the internal conflict he feels is to assume Finny's identity, first by donning Finny's clothes and then by attempting a rule-breaking that Finny would be proud of. This demonstrates a typical attempt of a growing youth; When faced with an identity crisis, one can find courage and comfort by adopting a personality that does not belong to them, often opposed to their own, as is the case with Gene. By dressing in Finny's clothes, "Gene takes the first step in a profound self-evaluation." Through a series of acts of identification with Finny, he will keep alive that very side of himself that he had previously sought to suppress” (Bryant 70). Gene's deep shame drives him to want to hide. This continues until the climactic scene where the true details of Gene's crime are brought to light in front of Finny and a large group of Devon students. Meanwhile, Gene has grown and changed, and his final transformation takes place when he visits Finny for the last time in the hospital before undergoing the operation that, unbeknownst to them, will end his life. When he sees Finny beaten, Gene is now more experienced and less shocked by the violence because "there were hints of much worse things around us now...the news and magazines were filled with pictures of burning artillery and bodies half-sunk in the sand of some beach somewhere” (Knowles 179); this illustrates his acceptance of both the war abroad and the war between childhood and adulthood within him. Gene's purging of pity, as well as his maturation, is demonstrated when he makes a full confession to Finny about the events at the tree; this is the first time that Gene and Finny accept him. Gene recognizes that Finny embodied a type of enlightenment that he had never achieved, and he guesses that "Finny's innocence represents the spirit of peace, so that his mere presence would make war seem unacceptable." His good will and fundamental idealism would overcome the fear and hostility that fuels the war between men” (Bryant 106), which is exactly why Finny was the essential part of Gene’s coming of age. The death of Finny, a truly innocent soul, symbolizes the end of Gene's years of ignorance and innocence. When he says, "I didn't cry then or ever about Finny...I couldn't escape the feeling that it was my own funeral, and you don't cry then" (Knowles 194), it illustrates this very concept. Additionally, Knowles creates the novel's opening pages to be narrated by an adult Gene visiting the grounds of Devon Academy for the first time in fifteen years, with the majority of the plot being a flashback, a necessity to capture the entire story. 'a Bildungsroman. , and to show the extent of Gene's change. During this solemn visit at the beginning of the book, the adult Gene makes a series of realizations that prove his personal advancement. He notes that he often used sarcasm in his youth to vouch for his weakness, that he and all his fellow Devonians had spent their time in blissful selfishness, and that the harmony and change of Devon was now reflected in him -even. He notices.