History Literature / ASeparatePeace

Surprisingly [[UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia required reading]] in a lot of high schools, despite the HomoeroticSubtext. The book is based on two short stories Knowles had previously written, "A Turn with the Sun" and "Phineas." It has been adapted into two movies of the same name, once in 1972 and again in 2004.

* DuringTheWar: The novel takes place during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Foreshadowing}} Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.]]]]

[[UnreliableNarrator Gene]] [[BrokenAce Forrester]], a student at the [[BoardingSchool Devon School]], becomes jealous of his [[BigManOnCampus popular]] and [[LovableJock athletic]] best friend [[BlitheSpirit Phineas.]] His paranoia brings him to believe that Finny is secretly envious of his academic prowess and is attempting to sabotage his streak of good grades, as this would justify his own resentment. This leads Gene to commit an act of violence that has [[TragicBromance tragic consequences for both him and Finny.]]

* BittersweetSeventeen: Explored due to the fact that the book is a ComingOfAgeStory and most of the main characters are seventeen (though they start the book being sixteen and one of them turns eighteen before all the others). Also exaggerated, since they're not just becoming adults, but facing the idea that [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII they'll be drafted into the military.]]

Surprisingly [[SchoolStudyMedia required reading]] in a lot of high schools, despite the HomoeroticSubtext. The book is based on two short stories Knowles had previously written, "A Turn with the Sun" and "Phineas." It has been adapted into two movies of the same name, once in 1972 and again in 2004.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Gene refuses to share any of his negative feelings with anyone, including ''himself,'' which causes real problems when he begins to secretly resent and envy his best friend. As is to be expected, he doesn't talk about ''any'' of this with said best friend and just keeps it to himself until [[spoiler:his emotions boil over and he makes a ''huge'' mistake.]] That mistake ultimately leads to [[spoiler:his friend's death.]]

* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Finny has a [[spoiler:conspiracy that wars are orchestrated by fat old men to keep control of the youth]]. However, it's later revealed that he [[spoiler:convinced himself to believe this so he could avoid feeling grief over not being able to fight in the War himself]].

** At the end of the book it's revealed that [[spoiler:after breaking his leg]], Finny isn't [[spoiler:nearly as happy as he once was. Now that he can't pursue his dream of being a professional athlete and he also can't participate in the War, he doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere]].

* BrutalHonesty: Near the end of the book, when Gene tells Finny his innate friendliness towards anyone and everyone [[spoiler:would have made him useless in the War]].

* RealMenWearPink: Finny wears a pink shirt and ignores any comments about it.

* GayBravado: Finny [[RealMenWearPink wears a pink shirt]] without caring when Gene says he looks like "a fairy." (Note that "fairy" was common slang for a gay man during this time period.)

* DeathByDespair: Possibly, with regards to [[spoiler:Finny]]. Multiple people have posed the theory that the whole [[spoiler:"bone marrow got to his heart during surgery and stopped it"]] thing is too weird and random to ''not'' be symbolic, saying [[spoiler:Finny]] actually died due to anguish after realizing [[spoiler:Gene's]] betrayal, as a figure such as him couldn't accept anything that penetrated his innocence and naive interpretation of the world.

** The teachers at Devon are a stuck-up lot who, despite constantly patronizing and scolding the students, are completely ineffective at enforcing the rules. Near the book's end, most of the students are suspicious of the circumstances surrounding [[spoiler:Finny's fall from the tree]] and act accusatory towards Gene--yet the teachers are nowhere to be seen, and Gene essentially [[spoiler:murders his best friend]] while escaping even a ''suspension.''

* AdultsAreUseless: The teachers at Devon are a stuck-up lot who, despite constantly patronizing and scolding the students, are completely ineffective at enforcing the rules. The few times parents are portrayed, they are either overbearing or widely absent.

* AdultsAreUseless: The teachers at Devon are a stuck-up lot who, despite constantly patronizing and scolding the students, are completely ineffective at enforcing the rules. The few times parents are portrayed, they are shown to be either overbearing or widely absent.

Surprisingly [[SchoolStudyMedia required reading]] in a lot of high schools, despite the HomoeroticSubtext. The book is based on two short stories Knowles had previously written, ''A Turn with the Sun'' and ''Phineas''. It has been adapted into two movies of the same name, once in 1972 and again in 2004.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Finny's love for Gene is pure and unwavering. During the [[RealMenWearPink pink shirt scene]], he is astonishingly unaffected by Gene's accusation that he looks "like a fairy," though this could just be him being ahead of his time. The reason he's this instead of AmbiguouslyGay is because in ''Phineas'' (the short story prototype of the book), it's clear he's interested in girls.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The book and its prototype version, a short story called ''Phineas'', have quite a few notable differences: