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A Separate Peace Internal Conflict

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In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses conflict as a gateway to adulthood. The characters must face each conflict before maturing. The characters grow, not necessarily physically, but grow mentally older. Finney and Leper, however, fails this challenge and therefore gets left behind as he has no place in the adult world. Gene, and Brinker, grow enough to move into the adult world. Finney, a physically talented boy, encounters many challenges during his time at Devon. First off, Finney cannot pass a class with A’s by just paying attention. He can study all day long, but cannot get a decent grade. Although, he really does not try to better himself academically, and accepts it. Finney excels in the physical aspect. This would make him a great …show more content…
I could not help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little."The central conflict of the story, A Separate Peace, is an internal conflict between Gene and Finny. The main internal conflict is that Gene feels that Finny tries to sabotage him in any possible way.
Gene also feels obligated to do as Finney wants him to do. This internal conflict of his causes him to retrench his ability to grow up. Although this causes an increase in Gene’s physical ability, it stunts his approach to adulthood.
Brinker has what it takes to make it into the adult world. Brinker smokes in the Butt Room, and sneaks in hard cider. These kinds of rebellious incidents show that Brinker thinks like an independant adult. Although he makes up a case, he tries to figure out what happened to Finny. This should have been done by the adults, but Brinker decides to get the truth instead of wondering and assuming. This shows he does what he can do, but still shows he has a childish mindset. Brinker also, argues with his father about what branch of the military to join for the war. He shows he has confidence and that his age actually shows his responsibility of his own

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