The Seperate Peace is probably the summer reading book that kept me interested the entire book through, and also the only book that I couldn't wait to see what happened next, which is why my blog is so early.
From the beginning, I knew that Finny and Gene's friendship was going to have a very important and relatable theme, and once I finished the book I immediately knew what it was (or what I think it is): the battles we all face throughout our lives, and the ones we must overcome. From the moment Gene begins talking about his and Finny's time together it is evident that he was always jealous of Finny, and for a while it seems that Finny is as much jealous of Gene as Gene is of him. But after further analyzation I found that Finny did not want to do/be whatever Gene did/was, but instead he wanted to perfect whatever he did, which was sports. Finny seemed to be winning his battle throughout the book, but after he falls off of the tree and is no longer able to play sports, he has lost his battle, which eventually causes him to die after his second fall. Ironically, when Finny has completely lost his battle when he dies, Gene seems to win his battle of getting over his jealousy of Finny and becoming happy with himself. He says that when Finny died a part of him also died, the part which I believe was Gene's immitation and jealousy of Finny, and when this piece of Gene died, he was finally able to be happy with himself.
I think that everyone faces at least one very important and life changing battle in their lives, and this need to beat something gives everyone something to strive for, therefore givng us a reason to live. As in the Great Gatsby, the green light symbolizes the want of life and Gatsby dies without any want, as does Finny after he can no longer strive to perfect his skills in sports. Gene won his battle while at Devon School, and, as he said, didn't have any war even during World War II because he had already won his battle.
A Seperate Peace is a novel with a very powerful and relatable theme; one that I believe can never be forgotten and willbe a timeless novel for years to come.
