Knowles Separate Peace Essays: Character Traits :: Separate Peace Essays

Character Traits in A Separate Peace   In the agree A Separate Peace by John Knowles, superstar of the master(prenominal) themes is the effects of realism, idealism, and isolationism on Brinker, Phineas, and Gene.  Though not everyone can be describe using one of these approaches to life, the approaches completely conform to these characters to create one realist, one idealist, and one isolationist thereby providing the foundation of the novel. The realist is Brinker.  Brinkers realism takes on a very morbid quality after Gene decides not to muster in with him, do to Phineass return to Devon.  Brinker still plans everything the air it is, but begins to think that the way it is, is bad.  On page 122, he is quoted as saying, Frankly, I just dont see everything to celebrate, winter or spring or anything else.  Brinker will scrutinize any incident until he finds a dark side to it, because, in his mind, at least one side of everything is a dark side.&nbs p Already we realise the footing for our climax.          Phineas (Finny) is the idealist.  Like Brinker, Finnys approach experiences a grim metamorphoses. Before his accident, Finny sees the serviceman as a glorious playing field and life as a never ending game. After his accident however, Finny begins to view the manhood through the eyes of a paranoid old man who is ever seeing something covert in everything.  On page 106, Finny even goes as far as to ask Gene, Do you really think that the unify States of America is in a state of war with Nazi Germany and olympian Japan?  This outlook is a mental facade that only succeeds in groomting Finny up for a heavilyer fall.          Finally there is the isolationist, Gene.  Genes approach is relentless from the beginning.  It is Gene who generates the dark change in the others.  Gene looks for danger in everything he is emotionally close to.& nbsp When he finds danger, he ostracizes himself from whatever it is that is represent a threat to him.  If he can not find danger, as with Finny, he creates it.  On page 45 he strives so hard to create danger in Finny that he falsely concludes that, Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies.  This creates the storys