A Separate Peace Video

A Separate Peace is a novel written by John Knowles and published in 1959. Set at a New Hampshire boarding school during World War II, the story follows the childhood friendship and rivalry between two boys, Gene and Phineas. Largely autobiographical, the coming-of-age novel was based on Knowles’ experiences as a Southern student attending the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy.

The novel opens on its protagonist, Gene Forrester, as he returns to Devon, his childhood prep school, 15 years after graduating. Reflecting on his time at Devon, Gene visits two “fearful sites” from his years there: a marble staircase and a huge tree from which he and his friend and roommate, Phineas, used to jump into the nearby river. Whereas Phineas, or “Finny,” was the school’s resident daredevil, Gene was shy and conservative but began taking risks under Phineas’ influence.

The novel then jumps back in time to Gene’s years at Devon. As both a good student and athlete and a charming, likable rule-breaker, Finny is an anomaly at Devon. When the substitute headmaster, Mr. Patch-Withers, throws a tea for Gene and Finny’s class, he notices that Finny has used the school tie as a belt, a serious offense. But as usual, Finny charms his way out of punishment by concocting endearing excuses, many of which play to the teachers’ sympathy for the boys, who will likely be drafted following graduation.

Together, Gene and Finny come up with the idea for a "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session," a group for exciting and dangerous things. Using a large tree as their diving board into the Devon River, Gene climbs onto one of the limbs with Finny but loses his balance. Finny stops Gene from falling, saving his life.

Jealous of Finny’s easy athleticism after he casually breaks a school swimming record, Gene decides to outdo Finny academically. However, Finny is carefree and unaware of Gene’s ideas about their rivalry, admitting to Gene one night on the beach that he is his best friend. Although deeply touched, Gene is unable to return the sentiment.

On the eve of exams, Finny asks Gene to come to the tree to watch a friend of theirs jump. At first, Gene objects, believing this is Finny’s way of sabotaging his grades, but he agrees when Finny remarks that Gene is such a good student that he doesn’t need to study. Climbing the tree with Finny, Gene impulsively jostles the limb, causing Finny to lose his balance and fall.

At first, Gene is unsympathetic, but upon learning that one of Finny’s legs was shattered in the accident, he is wracked with guilt. When he is finally granted a visit to the infirmary, Gene learns that Finny will no longer be able to play sports. Devastated, Gene struggles to take responsibility for the accident, troubled by the realization that, if Finny were in his place, he would confess. On the brink of telling Finny the truth, Gene is ushered out by the doctor.

Summer session ends, and Gene returns home for a month of vacation. On his way back to Devon, Gene stops at Finny’s home to check on his friend and is disturbed to see that Finny seems frail, like an invalid. Gene finally confesses to Finny, admitting that he may have even shaken the branch on purpose. Finny refuses to believe it, and Gene returns to school without him.

Another student at Devon, Brinker Hadley, accuses Gene of arranging Finny’s accident in order to get a room to himself. Fall passes, and along with Brinker, Gene considers enlisting, believing it could give him a sense of purpose, but he abandons the idea when Finny suddenly returns to school. Angered by talk of enlisting, Finny urges Gene to resume athletics on his behalf and begins coaching him for the 1944 Olympics, which Gene knows will be canceled due to the war.

Leper Lepellier, a fellow student at Devon, is the first of the boys to enlist and becomes a subject of fascination. But soon, the boys receive a letter from Leper, telling them that he has escaped the war. Gene decides to visit Leper at his home in Vermont, where Leper tells Gene that he saw him shake the branch. But the accusation is caught up in Leper’s rapidly declining mental health, his reason for leaving the service. Disturbed, Gene flees Leper’s home.

Back at school, Brinker again grows fixated on Gene’s role in Finny’s accident. One night, he decides to hold an inquiry into the matter, with other students acting as a jury. Brinker surprises everyone by calling Leper as a witness to the accident, and Leper affirms that he saw Gene cause Finny’s injury on purpose. Distressed, Finny runs from the room and falls down a marble staircase outside the classroom, re-breaking his leg.

Returning to the infirmary, Gene finds Finny angry with him. Finny asks Gene if he caused the accident out of hatred for him, but Gene assures Finny that his impulse to shake the branch was unexplainable and not based in ill-will. Gene leaves so that Finny can undergo an operation, but when he returns, the head of the infirmary, Dr. Stanpole, shocks Gene by telling him that Finny died during the procedure.

Summer returns, and Devon converts part of its campus, the Far Common, into a parachute rigger’s school for the war effort. While Brinker enlists in the Coast Guard to avoid combat, Gene joins the navy. Returning to the present, the novel ends as Gene reflects on how he modeled himself after Finny following the boy’s death, adopting his friend’s rebelliousness and integrity during the war. Still very much affected by Finny’s influence, Gene is finally able to make peace with his memories from Devon.