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A Separate Peace Literary Analysis

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As the clouds break, and sunshine hits the surface of the flowing waves of the ocean, it seems as if everything is anew. The darkness of the night is broken, and the beams of the sun bouncing off the water wash everything away. Many people are capable of creating their own sunshine in a world of darkness. Their artificial approach to reality makes it seem as if they are floating their way through life. The mind creates a filter to anything that may cause harm, a pure world is created as an escape from reality. As the dark storm clouds roll over the ocean in the distance, they bring themselves back to the sunny beach where the faint sound of waves crashing, and the radiant sun brightens their lives. In John Knowles story, A Separate Peace, many of the characters live in a fantasy world. Fantasy is seen as a way to cope with reality, and while it prevents harm on a …show more content…
Just like darkness is always changing, fantasy constantly changes too. Shaping and molding to the requirements that are prompted from reality. While this can be an effective way to escape surface level harm, it will always come to an end. As soon as the darkness creeps in, the contrasting ways of life clash. With no way to stop them, the darkness always wins. Reality has the power to destroy, and can cause the light that illuminates the path lying in front of a person to be covered in its waves of darkness. The darkness that used to be gray, becomes death black when it enters the fantasy. Consuming a person, until they cannot face it any longer. The waves that used to produce a calming sound, become a tsunami that is rising and begins to crash down. The reality that soaks within the water destroys anything it comes in contact with. The characters in A Separate Peace experience the destruction of their fantasies. New ways of life await them, as they have to choose a new way to go. Reality hits hard, when someone has never faced it

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