Nationality: American.
Born: Fairmont, West Virginia, 1926.
Education: Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, graduated 1945; Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, B.A. 1949.
Career: Reporter, Hartford
Courant, Connecticut, 1950-52; freelance writer, 1952-56; associate editor,
Holiday magazine, Philadelphia, 1956-60. Writer-in-residence, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1963-64, and Princeton University, New Jersey, 1968-69.
Awards: Rosenthal Foundation award, 1961; Faulkner Foundation award, 1961; National Association of Independent Schools award, 1961.
John Knowles writes, in general, not about his home turf but about New England or Europe. Only one novel, Vein of Riches, and that not his best, is about West Virginia, his childhood home. His fictional world is a cultivated, cosmopolitan, somewhat jaded world. He is a fine craftsman, a fine stylist, alert to the infinite resources and nuances of language. Yet, as he says, he is one of the live-around-the-world people, rootless, nomadic, and making a virtue of that rootlessness. He is a connoisseur of different cultures but master of none—or perhaps of one only, the sub-culture of the New England prep school. One defect of this very cosmopolitanism is the feeling of alienation that Knowles feels from his fictional world. As a veteran of many cultures he finds this trait an advantage when he writes graceful travel essays for Holiday magazine. He finds it a disadvantage when he wishes to create for Vein of Riches a thoroughly credible fictional character.
A Separate Peace, his first novel, is also by far his most important. It is a prep school novel about Gene Forrester and his close friend, Finney, and the studied set of ambiguities and ambivalences arising from the intense and complex relationship between the two. Gene, beset by a love-hate attitude toward Finney, causes Finney to suffer a serious injury and still later is the putative cause of his death from a second injury. But Finney's death is preceded by Gene's reconciliation with him, a redemptive act which to some degree assuages his feeling of guilt. Thus, the novel recounts Gene's initiation into manhood and into both worldly and moral maturity. Fifteen years after Finney's death, Gene returns to Devon to conclude the novel by thinking—"Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence." What does endure is the extraordinary popularity of this novel with prep school and college students.
Knowles's later books display his writing grace but not the inner strength of A Separate Peace. His second novel, Morning in Antibes, has a pot-pourri of comatose characters revolving about the deracinated Nicolas Petrovich Bodine in a kind of latter day The Sun Also Rises; it lacks, however, the Hemingway tone, atmosphere, and taut dialogue. The people are phony and maybe the novel is too. The long passivity of Nick makes him seem to move under water. The novel fails in characterization.
I think the title, A Separate Peace, means being able to find a way to seprarate yourself from the hardships of life and what is going on in society. I believe Knowles feel this is a good title because after Finny returns back to Devon, he is able to make Gene forget about the war and everything that is going on.
ReplyDeleteIn my understanding about the title of the novel, it was intended to symbolize ways to draw oneself away from distractions through tough times, faced in both society and everyday life. Knowles may have chosen this title due to how Gene was able to get past his trouble such as war. Finny helped Gene move on by coming back to Devon.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the book, I have come to the conclusion that the title fits the book perfectly. In my mind, Finny is always able to make Gene feel at rest, or at peace. Without Finny, Gene would encounter trouble like when he punched Quackenbush, and he would have enlisted in the army if Finny had not returned at the time he did. To me, the title means that each person has his own peace, and when it comes to Gene his peace is his friend Finny. Knowles felt strongly about this title because it summarized the book.
ReplyDeleteI think A Separate Peace is the title of the book because it symbolizes how Gene always is when Finny is around, and how Finny is able to make any situation calm and the people are able to have fun. It also fits how the school Devon is seemingly peaceful and separated from all of the war events going on in the world.
ReplyDeleteI belive that John Knowles titled this book the way he did because of the relationship between Gene and Finny but also because of the way that Devon is seperate from not only the war but the rest of the world almost. This fact is especially true during the summer session. The boys were completely at peace with everything and each other during the summer session. They seemed to have a world of their own, completely seperate from the war problems and all of the other drama and politics of the world and country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jon Knowles; A Separate Peace is the perfect title for the book. Knowles starts out the book with a simple dispute that most people are familiar with, hazing. He then brings up the topic of war, in order for the reader to get a feel of the citizens during a crisis. Individuals handle things differently in their way of dealing with pain or disputes, "Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone...like Mr. Ludsbury, 'How dare this threaten me, I am much too good for this sort of handling, I shall rise about this,' or else, like Quackenbus, strike our at it always and everywhere, or else, like Brinker, develop a careless general resentment against it, or else, like Leper, emerge from a protective cloud of vagueness only to meet it, the horror, face to face, just as he had always feared, and so give up the struggle absolutely"(Knowles 196).When Knowles talks about "It", he is talking about how the war has affected the characters. In my opinion the book is not just about Gene and Phineas, even though they are the main characters. It’s about how each individual lives during an emotional crisis like war. Each person found their "peace", or way to live with the war, in their own separate way.
ReplyDeleteJohn Knowles is correct A Separate Peace is the perfect title. To me the title means that beyond all the struggles of life, like war and stressed of school you are still able to find something to enjoy or find peace. Finny is Gene's peace, without Finny, Gene would be enlisted in the war and who else knows what else but Finny is always there for Gene and makes him feel at rest because Finny is his best friend and that is what he is there for.
ReplyDeleteAll of your interpretations of the title of the novel are great. When dealing with a book like this, there are always going to be a ton of possibilities of what the story is trying to say because the author's point in writing it was to create a sense of wonder. I like you quote Leisha, it seemed to fit your point perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI think this title means that ever person in the book and really everybody has at some point had hard times and in the book it's a lot about the war, but it's saying that everybody finds peace in a different way. I think think like John Knowles does this is the best title for this book. Finny was Gene's peace and I think that's the point he was tring to get across through out the book. It really just sums up the book.
ReplyDeleteI think Knowles says "A Separate Peace" was the perfect title, because Devon School is a separate place from the rest of the world. Where people can go to get away from the war and, or war talk. Or it could be the perfect title because of how in the book Gene separates himself from Finny to live a more peaceful life.
ReplyDeleteWell the title of A Separate Peace, could not have been a better choice for the title. IT shows how Gene is at peace and that if it was not for Finny he would have enlisted as soon as possible, and probably been killed in action. Finny seemed to make Gene feel safe and not in harm. Everyone in the book seems to find peace in their time at Devon. overall the title could have been any better then A Separate Peace.
ReplyDeleteJared Boerst
In my interpretation of the title, I think it has two meanings. The first is that A Separate Peace means that everyone has their own peace to them. For Gene, his 'peace' is Finny. My second interpretation is that A Separate Peace is a homophone. To me, Devon is a separate piece of the world. A place where everyone can become peaceful...Devon is peaceful piece in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI like the title of the book and feel it is very appropriate. I think that a seperate peace means that trying to find a peace from your wrong doings and try to overcome it. Gene in the novel, had a lot of guilt from the betrayl he had over his friend. 15 years later i think he may have finally found peace and is ready to move on with his life.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that the title fits the novel perfectly. I believe that Knowles titled "A Separate Peace" based on the friendship that was built between Finny and Gene. They seemed to always be there to help each other through tough situations, although Finny seemed to come to Gene's rescue more often. I believe that revisiting Devon brought Gene the peace that he needed and the closure that he'd been lacking.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a perfect title because apart the two main characters are in peace, but when they are together they are always in a conflict.
ReplyDeleteI think the title means that there was a separate peace between the war and the school. I think he felt so strongly because he wrote the book and he knows it best.
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