A Separate Peace Quote Analysis

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A Separate Peace by John Knowles

“I found it. I found a single sustaining thought. The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. . . . I felt better. Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief when nausea passes away; I felt better. We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.”

This quote is in chapter 4. Gene is slowly starting to understand that he is jealous of Finny. Finny is a much better athlete, and can talk his way out of anything. Gene starts to develop a way of coping with this. He starts to tell himself that Finny feels the same way about him. He tells himself that Finny is jealous of Gene because he is …show more content…

“What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me? (1.32).”

This quote shows their friendship. Gene didn’t understand why Finny talked him into things that he knew he shouldn't have done. Finny influenced Gene. This wasn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes Finny helped Gene overcome his fears and help him become more social. But sometimes, it was a bad thing, like jumping from the tree. Much of his hesitation over jumping has less to do with a fear of dying than a fear of subordination, of blindly following Finny's desires

5. “I felt fear's echo, and along with that I felt the unhinged, uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and opposite face, joy which had broken out sometimes in those days like Northern Lights across black sky” (1.5).

This is one example of equal but opposite pairs. There are a lot of these in A Separate Peace. Such as war and peace, winter and summer, safety and injury. This shows joy and fear. He was scared but at the same time he was really happy. He was excited but at the same time he was concerned about the outlook. At the end of this quote, there is a simile comparing this feeling to the days the Northern Lights go across the black

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