What is meant by the title of the book? Focus on the symbolic meaning. John Knowles’s A Separate Peace tells a story of growing up fueled by the impulsing emotions of adolescents that burst from the seams of friendship, envy, violence, and hatred. All these emotions are explored as Finny and Gene train for their illusionary 1944 Olympics. Finny remains steadfastly in denial of WWII. In his euphoric state of mind Finny claims that there …showed first 75 words of 444 total…

…showed last 75 words of 444 total…for my enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there,” Gene (page 196) As he felt he was always competing with Finny, Gene felt it as a war within a war. The moment Finny died was the moment Gene was contaminated with his own ecstasy, gaining a seperate peace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** John Knowles’s A Separate Peace