Instead of reviewing another book, I've decided to write about my views on the recent election.
Too soon? Nahhh.
The story begins with Gene Forrester as he returns to his high school alma mater (Devon School for Young Men, located in New England) on his fifteenth class reunion. He makes a point of visiting two specific locations: a tree along the bank of a nearby river, and a set of marble stairs in one of the buildings. He approaches these places with a dark sense of foreboding, and we the readers begin to taste the tragedy in the novel after witnessing Gene's return to his old high school.
The novel revolves around Gene's best friend and roommate, Phineas (Finny). Finny is a dazzling, unforgettable character. He demonstrates extraordinary athleticism, heroic charisma, daring mischievousness, and a heart of gold. He walks, talks, and engages the world effortlessly--in stark contrast to Gene, who envies Finny's talent, social prowess, and naive goodness despite his own academic superiority. Gene's jealousy intensifies until one day, while the two young men are climbing a tree (the same tree mentioned earlier), Gene ever-so-slightly shakes the branch, causing Finny to fall and shatter his leg, permanently ending his illustrious athletic career. Months later, Finny discovers that Gene (whom he trusted as his best friend) was responsible for his fall. Devastated, Finny limps away and attempts to navigate the flight of marble steps, but he collapses and falls down the stairs. His leg breaks again, and he goes into surgery. Due to complications from the surgery, Finny dies on the operating table.
At Finny's funeral, the guilt-ridden Gene says that "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. . . I could not escape the feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case."
A Separate Peace explores a dark side of human nature. The same people who can laugh and experience beauty and joy are capable of inflicting unspeakable pain and suffering on one other. Gene becomes aware of the evil in himself, and when Finny dies, Gene realizes that his own goodness has died, too. Or something like that.
The theme of reality is intricately woven throughout A Separate Peace. Finny, despite being superhuman (at least in Gene's eyes), fails to accept reality. He once declares that "When you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love." Finny cannot comprehend the pain of unrequited love, nor does he understand the concept of war. For Finny, the world exists to be loved, and to love him in return. Yet somehow the war permeates the serene Devon School, and just like the warring nations of the world, Gene strikes out to hurt his friend.Perhaps reality fails to accept Finny. Mahasveta Devi said that "In this world, it has always happened that when a person takes on godhood upon himself, he is rejected by everyone and is left to die alone." Could Finny's goodness be seen as divine? In a way, perhaps. Gene describes the human tendency to fight and to construct walls of hostility between one another, but he says that "Phineas alone had escaped this. He possessed a serene capacity for affection which saved him. Nothing...had broken his harmonious and natural unity. So at last I had." Finny chose not to believe in the hostile aspects of human nature, and the world rejected him for it.
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