A Separate Peace was published in 1960 and even after all these years, it continues to be one of the books teenagers today can relate to. It is set during World War II in Devon, a private boarding school in New England. The protagonists are Gene and Phineas who are teenagers trying to cope with adolescence. They are best friends/roommates with contrasting personalities.
Gene is an introvert and more academically oriented whereas Finny is popular, attractive and very athletic. The book, narrated from Gene?s adult perspective, recalls their summer at school and an incident which changed their relationship.
First, their differing personalities cause a rift between Gene and Finny. Gene is jealous of Finny?s leadership, and athletic skills, while Finny is jealous of Gene?s excellent grades. However, they continue to remain friends--their friendship is deep, but fragile.
One day, Finny and Gene are bored and decide to jump off an oak tree and into the river below. They had done that many times before, but this time, the results are disastrous. Not really knowing what he is doing, Gene shakes the branch on which Finny is getting ready to jump off of. Finny loses his balance and falls down, breaking this leg. This leads to the end of Finny?s athletic career.
Finny is not sure about what exactly took place, but Gene feels guilty because he realizes that he shook the branch due to his envy. Gene expresses this to Finny who dismisses the idea as he believes in only the good in people. He thinks it was an unfortunate accident and he had just lost his balance. They still remain friends and Finny starts training Gene athletically.
The threat of war remains distant to them; Finny firmly believes that there is actually no war going on. Nevertheless, their friends talk about getting drafted and one of them-Leper-joins the paratroopers. He goes fighting, but the harsh military life gets to him and he deserts the army. Leper?s experience reflects the true color of war. He first thinks war is glorious, but later realizes the importance of a human life.
Brinker Hadely, another student jealous of Finny and Gene?s friendship, decides to bring the truth of Finny?s ?fall? to light. He organizes a meeting and interrogates Gene about what actually happened. He also brings forth Leper as a witness to the incident. He tells Finny that because Gene shook the branch, Finny fell and broke his leg. Finny doesn?t believe it and exits the room. He falls down the steps and breaks his leg again. The book almost ends here, and I won?t reveal the ending.
The themes of this story are war, jealousy and insecurity. World War II makes a great backdrop for this story. A seemingly simple incident slowly takes a dark turn and the reader can feel the mood of the story going from bad to worse. The setting of the book adds to the depressing mood the author is trying to create.
I thought the characters were well developed and I could associate with some of the issues they were trying to deal with. The story is told in a flashback and is easy to understand. This book tends to drag in the middle, but otherwise, it is worth reading.