A Separate Peace
Mini Seminar Presentation
Date: 18th January, 1999
By: Michelle Jensen, Zehra
Nasirali, Susan Saunderson, Amirtha Vigneswaran, and Sajida Zalgaonker
Question
Consider the impact of the war on the orderly world of the school
and the well-planned lives of the students.
Trace this impact on at least three different individuals. Discuss how events in the school mirror the
occurrence in the wider world.
Gene Forrester
The war
had on impact on Gene's academic plans.
His mind was set on being the best academically at school. His plan was to also win scholastic awards
and graduate with honours. These goals
are foiled and thrown out the window when Gene starts to think about enlisting
in the war. Gene's immediate plans are
changing according to the war. Being in
the war has climbed up on Gene's list of priorities. An event that Gene is in that mirrors and occurrence of the
outside world is that Gene is training him for the Olympics. This training can
be compared to the training before the war. Gene is being trained to fight the
battle against himself just like how soldiers are trained to fight in a
war. As well, the war puts a strain on
Gene and Pinny's friendship. Gene is
not honest with Finny when Finny asks him about enlisting in the war. He denies this idea because he feels that he
is betraying Finny.
Finny (Phineas)
The had
on an effect on Finny in a strange way.
He made up the fantasy that there was no war. He concocted this idea because before his accident he was too
young to enlist and after is accident he knew nobody would accept him into the
army. To cover the notion that he wants
to be in war, Finny says that it doesn't exist. Pinny's plan (before his accident) was to be good in sports and
go to the Olympics. His plans are not
only ruined because of the accident but also because of the war. If Finny had not had the accident, he still
would not have gone to the Olympics because the 1944 Olympics were cancelled. Pinny's accident mirrors on occurrence in he
the wider world. He is considered a
"casualty" at school because he cannot participate in sports
anymore. In the real world this event
can be compared to a soldier who is hurt in a battle and cannot continue on
with his fight.
Leper (Lepellier)
Leper
felt cheated and betrayed by the war.
He got the wrong impression about the war from the recruiting
videos. He feels cheated because he
didn't get what he expected from the army.
The war impacted Leper immensely in that he feels that joining the army
and receiving a G8 has ruined his life.
Leper is older that the other boys.
He is quiet and mature. He feels
that he is mature enough to face the real world. He realizes that he is not ready when he joins the army and sees
what real life is really about. He is considered a "casualty" just
like Finny because the army thinks he's crazy.
He is brained with this title before he even got a chance to try the
war.