s. (Barron) It is the story of Gene and Finny, two opposite friends who are approaching graduation and the high probability that they will be sent to war. Phineas is a risk taker who shrugs off the rules at the first opportunity, "Phineas didn't really dislike West Point in particular or authority in general, but just considered authority the necessary evil against which happiness was achieved by reaction, the backboard which returned all the insults he threw at it." (A Separate Peace: 11) Because of his manipulative personality, Phineas is able to get away with many things others at the Devon school cannot. "The Devon faculty had never before experienced a student who combined a calm ignorance of the rules with a winning urge to be good, who seemed to love the school truly and deeply, and never more than when he was breaking the regulations, a model boy who was most comfortable in the truant's corner. The faculty threw up its hands over Phineas, and so loosened its grip on all of us." (A Separate Peace:16) The breaking of Phineas' leg may have been partially due to the permissive attitudes of their administrators. Phineas refuses to believe in the war; hence he has a distorted world image. Lawrence sees himself as a great athlete; hence he, too, has a distorted self-image. This is evidenced by the fact that A Separate Peace deals with the larger subject matter of the second World War and its effects upon a group of students who expect to be drafted into it. In contrast, A Turn with the Sun is the story of a first year student at a new school.Further, Phineas' injury is due to Gene's belief that Phineas is taking him to the river to distract him from his studies. Gene in his guilt rationalizes, "It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that's all it was." (A Separate Peace:183) Gene has the sense to question his motivations, which allows him to better himself, or at least recognize his ...
