A Separate Peace
By John Knowles
Plot
Gene Forrester and Finny attend the Devon School in New Hampshire. The year is 1942 and Gene and Finny are very close friends. When a daring stunt to jump out of tree goes wrong, Finny falls and breaks his leg. Many see it as an accident but Gene is unsure of himslef. Then throughout the book Gene shows competitive nature towards Finny and his jealousy of his athletic ability. While Finny is also jealous of Gene's academic acheivements. Then, at the end of the book, while once again arguing about the tree incident, Finny storms out of the room. As he's going down the stairs he breaks his leg again. When operating on his leg, the doctor allows a piece of bone marrow to slip in Finny's bloodstream and it kills him. Then most of the boys go on to join the military and Gene comes to accept Finny's death because he had "become" part of Finny.
Characters
Gene Forrester: Protagonist of the story, thoughtful and intelligent with a competitive nature
Finny: Gene's classmate and best friend, self-confidence, very likeable, and the best athlete in their school
Leper Lepillier: A classmate of Gene and Finny who is quirky, enjoys nature, and is not very popular at Devon
Brinker Hadley: Another classmate of Gene and Finny, charismatic, likes order and organization, likes justice, and very confident in his own abilities