A Separate Peace

1
A Separate Peace

• John Knowles

2
John Knowles

• Born on September 16, 1926, in Fairmont, WV
• Died on November 29, 2001.

3
Setting

• Devon School (boarding school for boys), New
  England area, summer of 1942 to June 1943
• Framing device - The novel opens in 1958 (Gene as
  an adult visiting school) to introduce the
  setting, major symbols, and emotional tone of
  novel. Then flashes back to the summer of 1942.
• The backdrop is World War II

4
Is Devon modeled after Phillips Exeter Academy?

• John Knowles was educated at Phillips Exeter
  Academy he based the novel on his years at
  Exeter.

5
Point of View

• Told from the first person point of view of Gene
  Forrester, who reflects back as an adult.
• Gene Forrester is not only a character in the
  novel he also acts as the narrator.

6
What is verisimilitude?

• When a novelist creates characters who seem like
  real-life human beings, it is called
  verisimilitude.

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Main focus of novel

• Characters deal with greed, social conservatism,
  puritanical religious ethic, and repressed
  emotions.
• Negative forces can lead to fierce competition
  and, sometimes, self-destruction.
• These forces can be overcome by turning away from
  competition and concentrating on those aspects of
  the self that restore love, emotional balance,
  and a communion with nature.

8
Literary context

• War threatens the future.
• War threatens the future of the students.
• Character struggles with an inner battle with his
  destructive self.

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Conflict

• the sadness of leaving childhood,
• the pull of adulthood, and
• the ultimate confusion in this passage to
  adulthood.

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Major Symbols

• The tree
• The marble staircase
• The river
• Devon School
• Games, sports, and clothing

11
World War II

• World War II began on September 1, 1939.
• American involvement began on December 8, 1941
  when we declared war on Japan.

12
World War II continued

• Novel begins in the summer of 1942 when Americans
  began to realize that the war would not end soon,
  nor was there any certainty as to how it would
  end.
• Rationing began for items such as crude rubber,
  gasoline, sugar and coffee, milk, and produce.

13
Two Sides in War

• Axis Powers
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan

• Allies Power
• Great Britain
• Soviet Union
• United States

14
Victory Gardens

• Produce became scarce as a result of American
  internment of Japanese Americans.

15
Japanese Americans produced two thirds of the
vegetable crop in California. Americans began to
raise their own vegetables in victory gardens
established in back yards and communal areas.
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Theme Topics

• The search for meaning
• Individuals in society
• Humans in conflict
• Values and beliefs
• Showing courage
• Reflecting on the past
• Self-realization
• Choices and consequences

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Something weighing on your mind?

• The novel focuses on sixteen year old boys who
  realize they are about 1 year away from military
  service eligibility, and if they join, they may
  be killed.

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Research topics projects

• Preparing for war
• Classes that encourages commando practice and
  toughening up
• Red Cross treatment and home-front emergencies
  treatments

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Topics projects continued

• Tin-Can Colonels
• Uncle Sams Scrappers
• WWII affects on English vocabulary
• Phillips Exeter Academy

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The End