Character Theme

The theme of the creation of inner enemies ties in with Gene. A Separate Peace takes place during World War II, but the novel does not focus on the external war. Instead, the internal war between characters, such as Gene, is portrayed throughout the novel. Gene states that every human being goes to war in a certain point of life when they realize that there is an enemy that must be destroyed. This is the case for Gene who saw Finny as his rival. Gene envied Finny and felt that Finny must envy him also, but when he finds out that there never was any rivalry between them, he cannot handle the truth, causing him to knock Finny out of the tree. Gene says that he fought his own war while at Devon and that he killed his enemy there. Throughout the novel, we realize the theme is that all humans create enemies for themselves and go to war against them.