History Literature / ASeparatePeace

* GayBravado: Finny [[RealMenWearPink wears a pink shirt]] without caring if he looks like "a fairy."

%% * HomoeroticSubtext: So blatant that the book has been banned from some libraries, but still ''just'' subtle enough for PlausibleDeniability.

%% * RefugeInAudacity[=/=]SarcasticConfession: When accused of injuring his friend on purpose, the main character jumps into a series of increasingly ludicrous things he obviously didn't really do to him, such as sleeping with his sister, which culminates in knocking him out of the tree.

%% * UnreliableNarrator

* RealMenHateAffection: This seems to be the belief amongst the Devon boys--well, the ones who aren't Gene and Finny, at least. They've both expressed a desire to show their feelings more openly, but they're scared to do so because the Devon boys apparently scorn anyone who dares to do so.

* RealMenHateAffection: This seems to be the belief amongst the Devon boys--well, the ones who aren't Gene and Finny, at least. They both have showed a desire to express their feelings more openly, but they are both scared to do it because Devon boys apparently scorn those who do that.

* PrecisionFStrike: At the "trial," Finny furiously yells at Brinker to "collect every f--cking fact there is in the world." (This actually how it's written.) The film version applies GoshDangItToHeck here.

* PrecisionFStrike: At the "trial," Finny tells Brinker to "collect every f--cking fact there is in the world." (This actually how it's written.) The film version applies GoshDangItToHeck here.

%% * PrecisionFStrike: At the 'trial'. The film version applies GoshDangItToHeck here.

** Finny also applies due to his overly pure, unwavering love for Gene. Also, we can't forget [[RealMenWearPink pink shirt scene.]]

''A Separate Peace'' is a 1959 novel by John Knowles, a coming-of-age story symbolizing Cold-War paranoia during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The events take place from Summer, 1942 to Summer, 1943.

Gene Forrester, a student at a boarding school, sabotages his successful best friend, Phineas, out of perceived jealousy. When Gene realizes that Phineas was not trying to sabotage him, Gene finds out too late that Phineas was a true friend, and Phineas becomes crippled in an accident by Gene. The rest of the story details Gene's and Phineas's friendship and Gene's attempts to reconcile with what had happened.

* FatalFlaw: Gene's is his paranoia and tendency to act out of emotional impulses, which go hand in hand.
** Finny's is his naive idealism of the world and the people he cares about.

* AmbiguousInnocence: Finny, by way of AlternateCharacterInterpretation. He's consistently depicted as friendly and kind, and at the end of the book, Gene concludes that Finny was free of the paranoid outlook borne by everyone else in the story. However, Gene is an UnreliableNarrator, and Finny is revealed as a StepfordSmiler near the story's end, suggesting that some of his innocent behavior may be a facade.

%% * DownerEnding

%% * StepfordSmiler: Finny

%% * UsefulNotes/WorldWarII

Surprisingly required reading in a lot of schools, despite the HomoeroticSubtext.

* AmbiguousInnocence: Finny, by way of AlternateCharacterInterpretation. He's consistently depicted as friendly and kind, and at the end of the book, Gene concludes that [[spoiler: Finny was free of the paranoid outlook borne by everyone else in the story]]. However, Gene is an UnreliableNarrator, and Finny is [[spoiler: revealed as a StepfordSmiler near the story's end, suggesting that some of his innocent behavior may be a facade]].
* AnAesop
* BoardingSchool: Devon
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Leper]].
** Also [[spoiler: Finny.]]
* BuryYourGays - [[spoiler:Finny]]

* [[spoiler:CareerEndingInjury]]: happens to Finny, and gets the plot going.
* CloudCuckoolander: Leper
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The stairs.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Gene has quite a few good moments.
* [[spoiler: DeathByIrony]]
* [[spoiler: DeathByNewberyMedal]]
* [[spoiler: DownerEnding]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Gene's description of Devon.

* GreenEyes: Finny's, as [[WhatBeautifulEyes pointed out repeatedly by Gene]].
* HomoeroticSubtext: So blatant that the book has been banned from some libraries, but still ''just'' subtle enough for PlausibleDeniability.
* MemeticBadass: Leper, an in universe example. When he goes off to join the army, the students joke about how he has been at every major battle in the war.
** While the other boys may see him as this, it's a actually a big subversion. While they're joking about him winning the war, he's at boot camp, [[spoiler: longing for his collection of snails and the beaver dam, trying to retain his individuality and not go crazy. He fails.]]
* MindScrew: Lots and lots of it.

* PrecisionFStrike: At the 'trial'. The film version applies GoshDangItToHeck here.

* RefugeInAudacity[=/=]SarcasticConfession: When accused of injuring his friend on purpose, the main character jumps into a series of increasingly ludicrous things he obviously didn't really do to him, such as sleeping with his sister, which culminates in knocking him out of the tree.
** RefugeInAudacity: Finny's main means of avoiding punishment from teachers.
* StepfordSmiler: Finny
* [[spoiler: TragicBromance]]: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. Finny and Gene's relationship bears most hallmarks of this trope--they're [[HeterosexualLifePartners very]] [[HomoeroticSubtext close]] and [[spoiler: Gene is profoundly affected by Finny's death, even fifteen years later]]--but it's subverted in that [[spoiler: Gene doesn't truly consider Finny his best friend due to his deep-seated jealousy and paranoia, feelings which cause the accident that eventually leads to Finny's death.]]
* UnknownRival: PlayedForDrama. Gene secretly views Finny as his rival and assumes Finny feels the same; this leads him to cause Finny's accident. [[spoiler: At the end of the book, Gene reflects that everyone acts this way, constructing lines of defense against an imagined enemy; only Finny ([[UnreliableNarrator according to Gene]]) didn't behave this way.]]
* UnreliableNarrator
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII

''A Separate Peace'' is a 1959 novel by John Knowles, a coming-of-age story symbolizing Cold-War paranoia during WorldWarII. The events take place from Summer, 1942 to Summer, 1943.

* WorldWarII

* TheMessiah: Phineas

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: During the film version of the 'trial', the boys sing "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" to their own tune for no apparent reason.

* PrecisionFStrike: At the 'trial'.

* {{Boarding School}}: Devon
* {{Break the Cutie}} :[[spoiler: Leper]].

* ForeShadowing: Gene's description of Devon.

* {{Refuge In Audacity}}/{{Sarcastic Confession}}: When accused of injuring his friend on purpose, the main character jumps into a series of increasingly ludicrous things he obviously didn't really do to him, such as sleeping with his sister, which culminates in knocking him out of the tree.

* {{World War II}}
----

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Devon is a thinly veiled version of the high school John Knowles attended, PhillipsExeterAcademy.

* RealMenWearPink: Happens quite literally once: Finny wears a pink shirt and ignores any comments about it.

<<|{{Literature}}|>>

* HomoeroticSubtext: So blatant that the book has been banned from some libraries, but still subtle enough for PlausibleDeniability.

* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Devon is a thinly veiled version of the high school John Knowles attended, Phillips Exeter Academy.

* {{Boarding School}}