A Separate Peace ties in well with its setting. It is set in an American School in the middle of WWII. The students were always aware of the war but it was distant and hard to imagine fighting. The country was at war but Gene and Finny were at peace in the sheltered school. While reading the book I was always aware of the war, but I did not really think on it. I did not imagine the horrors of the war, but instead the peace at Devon. The Great War took second to the personal lives of some of the boys.
A Separate Peace reminds me of Lord of the Flies. It had similar concepts to Lord of the Flies, but much milder. In the latter, the children were out of control since their was no authority. In Separate Peace, they were wild during the summer session which had only one authoritive figure, Prud'homme. The boys became savages on the island, and Gene had a lot of savagery in him, which Leper recognized, that came out sometimes like at the tree. However, Lord of the Flies ended when authority came back. A Separate Peace continued and the characters had to deal with the consequences.
I was surprised by how little guilt Gene felt. I mean when it first happened, he was racked with guilt and during break until he confessed. When Finny returned to school, Gene was fine even though he had rescinded the confession. He continued to be Finny's best friend and joke and look him in the eye and didn't seem to be thinking of the pain Gene had caused Finny. Since he injured his best friend and didn't admit it, I thought it would be like Dimmesdale's guilt, eating him up but to scared to tell anyone. Instead he repressed it until the trial brought it up. Once Finny forgived him he was fine even though he had caused his friend's newest wound, too.
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I like how you compare this book to Lord of the Flies. I do see some of the similarities. Do you really think Gene no longer felt guilty for Finny's injuries or death? I don't know; I think it would be difficult to shake that kind of responsiblity even at 16/17 years of age. He knew what he did was wrong, but not when he did it. Only after he realized what had happened did he feel guilty. That is similar to Dimmesdale. Both characters carried their guilt with them in silence until the end of each story.
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