As children begin to age and their minds begin to mature, they are able to understand that the world can be a trying place full of crime, of death and war. The older a person gets, the more responsibilities and problems they will face. Some may never be involved in a physical war, but anyone can fight in a symbolic war. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Finny and Gene fight their own war, a war that is closely related to the war taking place in the outside world: World War II. Throughout the plot, Finny and Gene manage to fight their own non-physical war, which involves as much casualty as an actual war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay Gene's jealousy of Finny shapes their relationship into a battlefield, accumulating physical and symbolic losses along the way. Gene's hatred of Finny causes him to jump onto the branch of the tree branch Finny is perched on. Finny, who had such a bright future full of sporting opportunities ahead of him, is deprived of his dreams when his leg breaks after a fall. Finny is therefore the main victim of Gene's war. The lives lost in a real war can be more numerous than just one, Finny, Gene feels like his own life has been taken away from him after the death of his best friend. While attending Finny's funeral, Gene says, "I never cried about Finny. I didn't cry when I saw him go down to the family cemetery outside of Boston. I could not escape the feeling that it was my own funeral, and in this case one does not cry” (186). Gene feels like he's suffered his own death since his best friend was taken from him and replaced by emptiness. Their extremely close and affectionate relationship leads them to support each other in ways that complement each other. At one point, before the accident, Finny convinces Gene to come to the beach with him by saying, "I hope you have a good time here." I know I kind of lured you away at gunpoint, but after all, you can't come to shore with just anyone...the right person is your best friend, that's it. that you are” (40). This proves how much the two boys care about each other; Finny shows a vulnerable side never seen before while Gene sacrifices his grades to please his friend. The losses Gene faces are similar to the lives lost during a war because he takes Finny's death as his own. During the 1940s, the period in which the novel takes place, World War II is a recurring issue that reappears several times. Almost everyone wants the war to end soon to end the pain and suffering, but many sacrifices must be made along the way to become victorious. In physical wars, soldiers will lose their lives and their families will grieve. Soldiers who survive will live the rest of their lives with painful memories of the war, wishing they could go back and do something differently, saving someone's life or sparing someone else's. In A Separate Peace, Gene also suffers losses, linked to the loss of life in war. Back in Devon, Gene does not want to accept the fact that he has paralyzed his best friend for life and avoids certain situations that will push him back into reality. Gene says he "didn't want to see the trays of escargots that Leper had spent the summer collecting replaced by Brinker's files."Not yet” (75). Seeing how much the room has changed will only prove to Gene that everything has changed and nothing will ever be the same again. He is not ready to admit his feelings of guilt. This concerns veterans of actual wars, as they are reluctant to return home for fear of not being able to adapt to their old way of life. They are afraid to accept this new change and refuse to recognize the difference, telling themselves that everything is the same and nothing has changed at all. Gene thinks he is in competition with his best friend, Finny, in terms of academic and sporting abilities. Finny is always eager to convince Gene to quit his studies and break the rules, such as jumping from trees. Gene attempts to "win" by studying more and putting much more effort into his studies to compensate for his lesser athletic abilities compared to Finny. Technically, Gene wins by killing Finny's chances of becoming an athlete and enlisting in the war when Gene jumps onto the branch of a tree Finny is perched on, but Gene considers this a Pyrrhic victory. He immediately regrets his decision to knock his friend down and break his leg. During surgery to repair his leg, Finny dies when a piece of bone marrow floats through his bloodstream to his heart, leaving Gene with no further competition. Gene feels like a part of himself died with Finny when his "enemy" died, because taking another's life takes away something from the killer that he can never get back. Soldiers also feel this same sense of remorse when they kill another human being on the battlefield; the guilt of stripping someone of their life will follow him for the rest of his life, becoming a new war he could fight against. Another way soldiers can return home from traumatic memories is to change their daily routine. Gene does this when he says, “I was late for my afternoon appointment. Before, I was never late. But today I was, even later than I should have been” (75). Here he avoids certain situations where he might feel guilty about Finny's leg. Before the accident, Gene was one of Devon's best students, if not the best, but now he is cleansing himself of all the memories and routines related to the war he fought with Finny. Even if they win the war, the victor will have lost something of value that they will never get back. In war, soldiers don't know who is responsible for their fighting. They are told that they must fight the enemy, but it is difficult to really know if the opposing side is evil since they are simply fighting for what they believe in. Gene's actions in knocking Finny out of the tree are what inevitably leads to Finny's death. death. Some students, like Brinker Hadley, suspect that Gene caused Finny to fall. Even Brinker compares his situation to that of a fallen soldier: “'There's a war going on. Here is a soldier our side has already lost. We have to find out what happened” (168). He and the other students want to know who is responsible for the accident and who is the enemy. During this investigation, Finny himself even begins to doubt Gene's innocence. Both boys don't know who they can trust and who they should hate. In the final line of the novel, Gene reflects: "I killed my enemy [at school]...all but Phineas built at infinite cost these Maginot lines against this enemy they saw on the other side from the border, this enemy who he never attacked in this way – if he ever attacked everyone; if he was indeed the enemy” (196). This shows..