Comparing A Separate Peace and Looking for AlaskaA Separate Peace is set at a boarding school in Vermont in the 1940s, and Looking for Alaska is set in an Alabama boarding school in the early 21st century, but despite the differences in context, these books can be compared by the similar goals of their characters. In A Separate Peace there is Finny and in Looking for Alaska there is Alaska, these characters serve a similar purpose in their respective stories. The goal of Finny and Alaska is to introduce a remarkable, interesting, and unique character, establish a connection with the main character, and demonstrate that everyone can suffer from internal breakdown. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The first important goal of Finny and Alaska is to demonstrate a unique personality fundamental to the bonds between Finny, Alaska, and Gene and Miles. In A Separate Peace, Finny is shown to be an incredible athlete who seems perfect. This statement is illustrated by Gene's description of Finny playing blitzball; “He created setbacks, deceptions and acts of mass hypnotism that were so extraordinary that they surprised even him.” (Knowles 31) Additionally, Finny is shown to have an honorable character, as illustrated by his set of rules, as Gene described: "'Never say you're five foot nine when you're five foot eight and half” was the first. I met. Another was: “Always say some prayers at night, because God might exist.” » But the one that had the most urgent influence in his life was: “You always win in sport.” » (Knows 26) The irony is that he doesn't follow school rules, but that doesn't require dishonorable character. In Looking for Alaska, Alaska is portrayed as a unique and interesting character, and she shares some similarities with Finny. The most striking similarity is his desire to break school rules. Although Finny and Alaska are somewhat similar, there are major differences between them. First of all, Alaska is not considered a unique country in terms of athletics or incredible sportsmanship. Instead, Alaska is presented as a physically attractive, interesting, and sometimes unstable character. Second, Alaska exhibits self-destructive behavior and is very impulsive, as evidenced by her excessive smoking and drinking habits. "She smiled with all the delight of a child on Christmas morning and said, 'You all smoke to enjoy it.' I smoke to die. » (Green 44) Although this is intended in a somewhat joking manner, this quote nevertheless illustrates his self-destructive behavior due to his heavy smoking. Although Finny seems somewhat impulsive, he does not share Alaska's self-destructive behavior. Although they have similarities, their differences indicate a slightly different goal. Alaska turns out to be more imperfect than Finny, who turns out to be, in a sense, perfect. Finny's major flaw is not being able to accept that not everything is perfect, as shown by his inability to accept the truth. Finny's misinterpreted version of reality ultimately leads to his death due to his failure to realize that Gene has begun to distrust him. Similarly, Alaska's impulsiveness ultimately causes her death due to her irresponsible driving. Finny and Alaska's second main goal is to establish a bond with Gene and Miles, respectively. Gene and Miles represent the voice in each book, but they are not necessarily the most important characters. In ASeparate Peace, the story is told from Gene's point of view, and yet almost all of it is about Finny and he is as important as Gene, if not more so. Finding Alaska is told through Miles, but like A Separate Peace, most of the story concerns Alaska and it is at least as important as Miles. Finny is introduced as Gene's best friend and during their summer at Devon, he encourages Gene to break school rules. However, their friendship is not perfect and Gene becomes paranoid that Finny is trying to limit his studies by wasting his time. This is testament to a highly competitive atmosphere in Devon. This pervasive attitude causes Gene to cause Finny's accident and, ultimately, his death. After Finny's accident, however, it becomes clear that Gene regrets being the cause of it and is aware that his previous assumptions were wrong. Gene is filled with regret and anger at himself: “I hit him hard in the face. I didn't know why for a moment; it was as if I was mutilated. Then I realized that someone had hit me. (Knowledge 71). This example makes it clear that Gene is, at the very least, angry at himself for causing Finny's accident because he hit Quackenbush after he was called maimed. In Looking for Alaska, Alaska is not only a friend, but a love interest for Miles. The connection between Miles and Alaska is further complicated due to the addition of the Colonel and, to a lesser extent, Takumi; they also become friends with Miles and are therefore embroiled in the story. Much like Finny, Alaska encouraged Miles to break school rules and participate in the Warriors of the Week pranks. After Alaska's death, Miles spent much of his time crying and trying to decipher her death with the Colonel. It is clear from this that he not only cared about Alaska, but wanted to know more about her and the interesting circumstances of her death. Miles was partly responsible for Alaska's death, as he and the Colonel had allowed Alaska to drive drunk. Therefore, he was not only filled with grief because of Alaska's death, but also with regret because of his irresponsibility. From these connections, one can determine that an interesting and unique character must also have a strong connection to the main character. The third important goal of Finny and Alaska is to demonstrate that anyone can suffer from internal breakdown. Throughout a separate peace, Finny refuses to accept that not everything is perfect. He refuses to believe that there are losers in sports, even though there clearly are. He refuses to believe that Gene caused his accident: "'I deliberately blew off the limb so that you would fall.' He looked older than I had ever seen him. 'Of course not'” (Knowles 62). He continues this attitude even though it becomes abundantly clear that Gene actually caused his accident. This ultimately leads to its internal collapse. Finny becomes more and more upset: "'You get all your facts!' » I've never seen Finny yell, "You have every fucking fact in the world!" He rushed through the gates” (Knowles 169). This quote demonstrates that Finny did not want the facts of his accident to be revealed, probably because he eventually discovered that Gene was the cause. Finny then fell down the stairs and was injured again, this time he was killed by his own bone marrow. Finny's death is symbolic because it illustrates his internal collapse, via a death from a close internal cause. In Looking for Alaska, Alaska's death was caused almost exclusively by her own behavior, as her death..