A Change in Perspective

Elizabeth Bailey

Mrs. Kephart

10 Honors English

13 November 2017

A Change In Perspective

        The loss of innocence is a common aspect of a coming of age novel. The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles is about a handful of boys at the Devon Preparatory School who are preparing to be drafted for the war. The loss of innocence occurs in every character’s life and is typically the result of a jarring event within their life. This is shown through Leper, Gene, and Finny’s progression as characters.

        Leper’s loss of innocence in A Separate Peace is the most noticeable. When Leper is first introduced in the story he is known as the odd kid who is always off on his own, isolated from the rest of the boys at Devon. As the story unfolds, the boys at Devon begin to prepare for their time to be drafted into the military. This marks a major step for the boys and most of them have been preparing their whole life for the draft. However, Leper disregards the war and goes about being the same immature, lonesome boy he's always been. A couple of weeks before the draft Gene goes to clear off the railroads for the trains carrying the troops. On his way there, he sees Leper off on his own in the woods with skis on his feet. When Gene encounters Leper he asks Leper where he's going and Leper replies, “Well, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just touring around” (Knowles 94). This was typical Leper being away from society doing absolutely nothing, and not going to help the war effort. A few days after Leper is found skiing, the United States ski troops come in and show a film of troops skiing around over crystal white, snow covered hills. This film deceives Leper into believing that the war was just skiing the whole time. After watching that film, Leper decides to enlist, shocking everyone. When Finny found out that Leper had enlisted he said, “If someone gave Leper a loaded gun and put it at Hitler’s temple, he’d miss” (Knowles 127). This shows how innocent and immature Leper was before the war. After a few weeks had gone by, Gene received a letter from Leper, saying, “I have escaped and need help. I am at Christmas location. You understand. No need to risk address here. My safety depends on you coming at once” (Knowles 137). This came to no surprise to Gene that he escaped, as no one understood why he enlisted at all, since he never showed any interest in the war. When Gene arrives, he can immediately see the terror in Leper’s eyes and the change in perspective. Leper informs Gene that he escaped the military to avoid a Section Eight Discharge, which is a discharge for insanity. After talking with Leper for a little while, Gene goes back to Devon to inform the other boys about Leper. Gene explains that Leper has gone crazy, just by looking at Leper he could tell immediately. Throughout this novel, Leper has changed drastically as a character. His loss of innocence was due to his enlistment in the war. Before the war he was a quiet, naive boy, but he was forced to face reality during the war and it completely changed him. Along with Leper, Gene also changed throughout the novel.

        Gene is another character that experienced a loss of innocence in the novel A Separate Peace. In the novel, Finny is Gene’s best friend. However, Gene is portrayed as jealous of Finny. Finny is always convincing Gene to do risky things and Gene feels obligated to say yes because Finny is liked by everyone and Gene wants to stay his friend. Finny is known for being good at every sport he plays and Gene is known for being extremely smart. Gene begins to form a lie in his head that Finny is out to sabotage him because Gene believes that Finny views them as equal since they both accelerate in a specific area and does not want to be equal with Gene, he wants to be on top. This is confirmed for Gene when Finny invites him to come watch Leper jump off the tree, even thought he knows Gene is studying for a test. Gene ends up going to the tree but instead of Leper jumping from it Finny and Gene decide to do a double jump. Finny goes out in front and Gene follows. When they are just about to jump Gene jounces the limb, causing Finny to fall to the ground, shattering his leg. As one critic, James Ellis, points out, “As the Biblical tree of knowledge it is the means by which Gene will renounce the Eden—like summer peace of Devon and, in so doing, both fall from innocence and at the same time prepare himself for the Second World War” (pp. 8-9). This shows how Gene’s loss of innocence originally stems from him jouncing the limb and causing Finny to shatter his leg. Finny ends up having to get surgery and will never again be able to play sports. Gene realizes that Finny was never out to get him when Finny apologizes for having a thought that it might have been Gene’s fault for his injury, not wanting to believe Gene would purposely hurt him. It is then reconfirmed that Finny did not have a scheme to sabotage Gene when Finny believed that it was just some blind impulse that made Gene jointed the limb, not some deep seated hatred. The two boys are talking and Finny says, “It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn't know what you were doing. Was that it?” then Gene replies, “Yes, yes, that was it. Oh that was it, but how can you believe that? How can you believe that? I can't even make myself pretend that you believe that” and the conversation continues, “‘I do, I think I can believe that. I've gotten awfully mad sometimes and almost forgotten what I was doing. I think I believe you, I think I can believe that. Then that was it. Something just seized you. It wasn't anything you really felt against me, it wasn't some kind of hate you've felt all along. It wasn't anything personal.’ ‘No, I don't know how to show you, how can I show you, Finny? Tell me how to show you. It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that's all it was’” (Knowles 191). From this conversation, Gene is convinced that Finny was never against him the same way he was. This forces Gene to be faced with the reality that he did cause Finny’s injury and he had created the whole scheme inside his head. Finny’s death at the end of the novel causes Gene’s final loss of innocence, because he is now forced to make decisions for himself and no longer live in Finny’s shadow. Gene’s entire loss of innocence was due to his internal war with Finny, that he later finds out was one sided the whole time. Finny's injury also leads to his own loss of innocence.