Gene Forrester's self realization and self discovery is the main theme of 'A Separate Peace' by John Knowles. This process begins when he pushes his best friend Phineas from a tree and it continues until he visits this tree fifteen years later. Gene must learn to face reality and the future, confront his problems, as well as forgive and accept what he has done. With the jouncing of the limb, Gene realizes his problems and …showed first 75 words of 586 total…

…showed last 75 words of 586 total…escape from "the fear that he had been living in." He enables himself to move on and join the adult world. Gene's maturation is a long and difficult process. It reveals a darker side of Gene that he does not wish to see. However painful, Gene is made a better person through his journey of self discovery. Through his pain and awful revelations about himself, Gene matures from an insecure child to a knowledgeable adult.