Peyton Pleninger Period 7 English A Separate Peace

Lately Ive been listening to a lot of music by the Doors. One thing I like so well about their music is the heavy use of symbolism in the lyrics. Jim might say hes taking a Trip down to LAmerica to trade some beads for a pint of gold, when he really means he went to Mexico to buy marijuana. Symbols are a great writing technique when you want to make your reader think a little bit. They help to develop the plot without the author coming right out and telling you the personality of the characters. John Knowles uses symbols in his novel A Separate Peace to illustrate greed and isolation.

Finny shattered his leg very early on in the novel, but it was more than just a painful inconvenience. His broken leg symbolizes Finnys isolation from doing what he loved- playing sports, and also satisfying his craving of fighting in the war. Finny is obviously isolated from the truth of the world- he doesnt even believe the United States of America is in a state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. P115. He blocks himself from the war because he wants to be fighting in it, but cant because of his broken leg. Finny also blocks himself from the fact that Gene caused his leg to break. His faith in their friendship makes him isolate himself from the truth- that Gene is not who Finny thought. His broken leg also helps to illustrate Genes greed. Gene wanted to be that all around great guy

that everyone looks up to, but [he] was not of the same quality as [Finny] p59. Finnys broken leg symbolizes the extreme that Gene would let his greed take him to. Its like that never disappearing reminder of what Gene would do just to be the best. Every time Finnys leg is mentioned, the reader thinks of Genes vicious jealousy and greed, and his lack of trust when Finny tells him there is no competition.

Finnys broken leg is a multipurpose symbol. It mainly illustrates Finnys isolation from the truth and Genes greed to be better than Finny. Finnys broken leg is a great symbol because every time it is mentioned, the reader is reminded of all these crucial themes