Repressed Homosexuality in A Separate Peace
In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, there are many clues that suggest Gene has a sexual attraction toward Finny; however, in the 1940s when the story takes place, homosexuals were subjected to a tremendous amount of discrimination and, therefore, might ignore or hide their true feelings. Because of its time, it’s almost as if the book itself is “in the closet” as it cannot acknowledge directly that it is a gay novel. Throughout the text, the novel has many references to Gene being gay, but never direct ones. In John Knowles’s A Separate Peace, because of the time he lives in, Gene cannot express or perhaps even admit to his true identity.
In the 1940s, homophobia was extremely prevalent in the United States. People who were openly gay were often stigmatized. “Homosexuality was discussed as ‘an aspect of three personality disorders: psychopaths who were sexual perverts, paranoid personalities who suffered from homosexual panic, and schizoid personalities’ who displayed gay symptoms” (Kaiser 29). Many regulations and practices discriminated against gays. The military found homosexuality to be a direct threat to strength and safety of the U.S. government and the American people, in general. In 1941 the Army and the Selective Service banned homosexuals from participation in the war (Kaiser 29). All major religions considered it sinful and throughout the country, more and more people found it to be immoral. Life was hard for homosexuals in the early and mid-twentieth century. They were forced to hide their sexuality in order to escape derision or imprisonment.
Those who weren’t condemning homosexuality were ignoring it. “Until the end of World War II the topic of homosexuality was almost co...
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...gays in this time period, Gene is not able to express his feelings and struggles with the concept of being different. As readers see Gene repressing his feelings because of the time period he lives in, it also is easy for them to see that the book itself is struggling to “come out” of the closet. Even though it is easy to find evidence that this is a gay novel, John Knowles never gives the readers a direct answer as to whether it absolutely is or not. In fact, although this is a work of fiction, a lot of Knowles’s actual life is infused into the book. Just like in the book, Knowles went to an all-boys boarding school in the first half of the twentieth century. Even though we cannot say that Knowles was gay, we know that he grew up in the same era of homophobia and may have still felt uncomfortable with expressing homosexuality openly--even through a fictional story.
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
Have you ever read a book where one of the main characters was so envious of another? Well, here you have it. In John Knowles “A Separate Peace”, Gene is all for the jealous rage and resentful ways. Throughout the book, Mr. Knowles places the boys in a boarding school and sets the tale so that the reader knows all the focus is set upon Finny and Gene’s relationship. Speaking of relationships and Gene’s way, the storyline takes a turn and Finny actually ends up being almost physically pushed out of a tree. I say that shows a large characteristic of Gene. He is without a doubt, resentful towards Finny.
What I’ve noticed in the film is that the two main characters fit two standard archetypes of gay men. One who welcomes their sexuallity and one suppresses it. Ennis Del Mar is a man who before the story started was engaged to a woman named Alma. When Ennis and Jack begin their sexual relationship and Ennis tells Jack that he wasn’t queer,
His focus upon the importance of individuality is a constant throughout the novel and is displayed through Gene’s hatred toward Finny at the beginning of the novel only because he was more athletic than he was. (Knowles 43). Finny has always been a breaker of rules-game rules, school rules, the rules of a society at war that say that no one should be having fun now. But Gene's desire to break the boundaries of their separate human identities is finally still more radical. The reader might not think Finny's death is Gene's fault, but this desire to absorb his friend completely seems to require either Finny's actual death, which of course occurs, or the death of all difference between them, which one will argue also occurs (McGavran).Though Knowles is (to us) curiously coy in describing the death of Finny, even italicizing it as ‘that’, he considers it extremely important because of its concentration on pure pleasure.” This proves that Knowles is clearly focusing on the pleasures of emotion and feelings of Gene. Emotion and all other feeling is basically nonexistent in Gene, which is a clear warning to people today that that lust is not the answers to solving your problems even if it means losing someone you truly love and care
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
Prior to the 1950’s, society had already formed the foundation of its bias towards gay men. Scientific and social studies executed by famous scholars, such as Freud and Kinsey, suggested not only that homosexuality is abnormal, but it is prevalent among society (Johnson). Correspondingly, Washington began to grow, which gave way to new government positions, ranging from the lowest corporate level to the highest corporate level; thus, paranoia, regarding homosexual men in the White House, dispersed
Knowles further manipulates Finny and Gene’s relationship in their escapades together. At the beach, Finny shares his inner emotions with Gene, an act likened to “the next thing to suicide” (48). Surprised, Gene attempts to share his own feelings, but hesitates and does not follow through. Knowles uses Gene’s hesitant, distrusting nature, to suggest dishonesty in his relationship with Finny. In the scene where Finny saves Gene from falling out of the tree, Knowles continues to imply power disparity. Realizing that “Finny had practically saved [his] life” (32), Gene feels personal debt to Finny. This widens the power gap even further ...
The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...
At the beginning of this novel Gene is very “Ignorant” of his heart. He constantly lies, not only to others but also to him self. Finny on the other hand is a very honest person, he never lies about anything to make him sound or feel better about himself. An example of this is the incident where the boys are asked their height and Genes says he is 5’9 and Finny corrects him by saying, “no your five foot eight and a half, the same as me.” This quote shows the honesty that Finny possesses and that Gene lacks. Gene refuses to admit that he isn’t tall while Finny openly admits it. Gene refuses to admit that he isn’t brave or that his motives for injuring Finny where entirely false. Gene cannot face what he is and this leads to tragedy.
The topic of homosexuality has become a constant issue throughout our society for many years. Many people believe that being gay is not acceptable for both religious and moral reasons. Because being gay is not accepted, many homosexuals may feel shame or guilt because of the way they live their everyday lives. This in turn can affect how the person chooses to live their life and it can also affect who the person would like to become. Growing up, David Sedaris struggled to find the common ground between being gay as well as being a normal teenager. He often resorted to the conclusion that you could not be both. Sedaris allows us to see things through his young eyes with his personable short story "I Like Guys". Throughout his short story, Sedaris illustrates to the reader what it was like growing up being gay as well as how the complexities of being gay, and the topic of sexuality controlled his lifestyle daily. He emphasizes the shame he once felt for being gay and how that shame has framed him into the person he has become.
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
In "A Separate Peace" many characteristics of becoming a man can be seen. For example, as the novel progresses, so does Gene's maturity. Gene's first seen in the novel as a boy, not yet brought on by nature, but as one gets deeper into the novel, one sees change; Gene embarks on life change that all men journey through once in their life. Gene begins to see his life and others from a totally new standpoint, as though even from a newer perspective. In Chapter two and chapter three, Gene, develops a sheer envy for Finny, and acknowledges it as the truth. He is extremely envious of the methods in which Finny uses to escape his unusual actions and his popularity. He embeds himself in a pool of self-assurance, by repeatedly telling himself over and over again that having
He also is a closeted homosexual. He has a high political power; this is the cause of him not being openly gay. The homosexual community has little power, and this scares him. He is obsessed with the amount of power that he has, and he will not lose that. This is where politics come into play, being a “right wing” conservative he is supposed to generally opposed to gay marriage. He is in a good political position and knows that coming out could risk losing power, and this is terrifying for him. He changed the label of his diagnosis from AIDS, to liver cancer to avoid losing the respect of people who are above him. The impression that homosexuals are nobodies is a great example of how identity politics or other things pressure people into becoming tied down by lies. The identities of people and their true selves is often hidden under the identity of what they are compelled to show others. Homosexuality is only one of the many things that can keep people from exposing their genuine identity. Throughout the novel many characters are diagnosed with AIDS. The first five cases of AIDS were initially reported in June of 1981. AIDS has taken the lives of 636,000 Americans. In 1992, there were 250,0000 reported cases of AIDS. Of those 250,000 cases 200,000 had died. A more recent study in 2004, there were 1,000,000 reported cases, only 500,000 had died. It is still decreasing today. Gay or bisexual men make up the
This quote addresses directly the primary difficulty of the issue. The terms gay and lesbian are useful in literature in that they allow a group of people who have been marginalised and even persecuted to become visible. They enable a way of life and a set of identities, harmonious or conflicting, to be presented, to be questioned, to be understood and accepted. As categories they create ‘space’ in which there may develop a more evolved understanding of texts and they also create a genre within which many lesbian and gay writers are comfortable with being placed. A gendered reading of a text can reveal undercurrents and depths which might otherwise not be apparent. These categories also make ‘space’ for the author within the text which leads to a closer tie between the author and the reader in the reading process.
Bawer, Bruce. A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society. New York: Poseidon, 1993. Print.