Friendship, in all its complexity, is an appropriate theme for this novel. Friendship is about depending on another person or having someone to confine to, or people seeking each other out to fill gaps they feel inside themselves. In the novel A Separate Peace, friendship plays an important role in Genes stay at Devon. Genes relationships with Finny, Brinker, and Leper are the ones that had the most significant impact on him.
The friendship between Gene and Finny was extremely complex. At some points, you think that they are best friends, like when Gene and Finny had just jumped from the tree, and Finny stated, Its just you and me pal. Other times it seemed as though they were not friends. One example was when Gene blew up at Finny when Finny tried to get him to skip studying and go watch Leper jump from the tree. Finny always seemed to be Genes friend without a doubt but Gene always seemed to have a deep resentment for Finny. This feeling of resentment led him to jounce the tree limb and make Finny fall and shatter his leg. Finny, however, wouldnt believe that.
When Brinker and Gene returned from cleaning at the railroad yard, they had made the decision to enlist in the war together. His clear memory, after fifteen years, of the events that took place with these friends, showed how much these boys not only meant to him then, but also how much they shaped the man he had become. There were not many occasions when they show much friendship toward one another. When Finny finally realized that Gene betrayed him, he began to run and he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg again. This probably gave Gene insight into what war really was all about. When Gene went he realized that Leper was Away With Out Leave and the war had caused him to go insane. Lepers enlistment made the concept of the war easier for Gene to cope with.
The friendship between Gene and Leper was probably the least significant relationship for Gene of all. Brinker was jealous over the quick bonding between Gene and Finny, so Brinker looked for a way to revenge Gene by having a trial and forcing Finny to see that Gene really did cause him to fall. Leper gained the respect of Gene and the others, when he enlisted with the ski troopers. Gene received a letter from Leper telling him to come and visit him because he had escaped.
The main part Leper played in the story, however, was his testimony at the trial Brinker set up. Gene didnt have any strong feelings about Leper except to feel a little sorry for him, because Leper didnt have a very outgoing personality and, at times, seemed a little weird. Finny had just returned from his recuperation and didnt want his best friend Gene to leave him. However, when they ended up on the same clean-up squad at the railroad yard, they began to talk quite a bit.
Throughout the story, it is very obvious the balance of power of their friendship. With each change, their friendship is tested in a different way. It`s sad when their affection for each other survives one final test, and it takes the life of a friend that is lost forever, Finny.
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