Character Traits In A Separate Peace
In
the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles, one of the
main themes is the effects
of realism, idealism, and isolationism on
Brinker, Phineas, and Gene. Though
not everyone can be described
using one of these approaches to life, the approaches
completely
conform to these characters to create one realist, one idealist,
and one
isolationist; thereby providing the foundation of the novel.
The
realist is Brinker. Brinker's realism takes on a very morbid
quality after
Gene decides not to enlist with him, do to Phineas's
return to Devon. Brinker
still sees everything the way it is, but
begins to think that the way it is,
is bad. On page 122, he is quoted
as saying, "Frankly, I just don't see anything
to celebrate, winter or
spring or anything else." Brinker will scrutinize
any incident until he
finds a dark side to it, because, in his mind, at least
one side of
everything is a dark side. Already we have the footing for our
climax.
Phineas
(Finny) is the idealist. Like Brinker, Finny's approach
experiences a grim
metamorphoses. Before his accident, Finny sees
the world as a glorious playing
field and life as a never ending game.
After his accident; however, Finny
begins to view the world through
the eyes of a paranoid old man who is always
seeing something
covert in everything. On page 106, Finny even goes as far
as to ask
Gene, "Do you really think that the United States of America is
in a
state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?" This outlook
is
a mental facade that only succeeds in setting Finny up for a harder
fall.
Finally
there is the isolationist, Gene. Gene's approach is
austere from the beginning.
It is...
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