Analysis Of Quotes From 'A Separate Peace'

Coming-Of-Age

Chapter 1 of ‘A Separate Peace’ begins by introducing the narrator of the story returning from Devon school, where he was schooling as a boarder. Upon his arrival, he gets disappointed when realizing that the school appears preserved, unchanged, and above all looking newer than before. Besides the unchanged buildings, the narrator realizes there is unchanged emotion, something he never recognized then. The narrator realizes that over the fifteen years out of school, he has grown and now everything around him looks much smaller. The narrator quotes, “the longer things stay, the more they become changed’ (Bodden 11). He made this quote in reference to the school tree which had over the years become smaller, and weary.

The theme

of Bildungsroman, is quite evident in chapter one of ‘A Separate Peace’. The story is about growing up and facing adulthood. The narrator goes back to the school where he left fifteen years ago, and here learns that he has matured. Above all, the narrator is able to interrupt himself at different points and insert his reflections and all he had learned over time. For instance, he makes ambiguous references to specters that haunted him as a young boy. He uses a phase, ‘fear’s echo, and to death violence’ (Bodden 11). This scene is a creation of the mood of dread that reflects the nature of the entire novel.
Finny invents an arbitrary rule that requires him and his friend Gene to begin each meeting by jumping out of the tree. Gene hates this particular rule, but he never loses his fear of the jump. However, Gene decides to attend each of the nightly meetings without contesting the rule. Finny is a lover of sports, but he hates the summer session athletic program. Finny breaks a swimming record while alone with Gene, but refuse to participate in public for everyone to see. Additionally, Finny proposes they go to the beach, something the school rules highly forbid. However, reluctantly, Genes agrees and they went to the beach by bicycle. Finny is glad that his friend Gene accepted to follow is rules, and that is an indication of true friendship.