Author: John KnowlesAuthor: John Knowles

• Born September 16, 1926 in West Virginia

• Novel is based on his experience attending an all-boys prep school in New Hampshire

• Served in the Air Force, graduated from Yale in 1949, then worked for several magazines as both a writer and a critic

PublicationPublication

Novel is based on a short story called “Phineas,” that Knowles published in Cosmopolitan in 1956

Rejected 11 times Finally published in 1959 in London and

1960 in the United States

What the Critics Said…What the Critics Said…

Immediate praise from reviewers Compared to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher

in the Rye (1953) By the 1960s a major part of high

school English curriculums

Post-PublicationPost-Publication

• Sold more than nine million copies to date

• Still one of the most popular texts studied in high schools

• Knowles went on to publish several other novels, including Peace Breaks Out, a sequel to A Separate Peace (retained the Devon School setting but had a different cast of characters)

Historical ContextHistorical Context

Novel takes place in the 1940s shortly after the United States had declared its involvement in WWII; had troops in Europe and the Pacific

War brought out patriotism in all Americans All 18 year old males were made to register for

the draft Going to war was a constant concern for young

men; draft dodging was unthinkable

Historical ContextHistorical Context

Educational opportunities limited for African Americans and women

All-white, male prep schools were an upper class student’s best chance to get into the best private universities

Pressure to succeed at these prep schools was great

SettingSetting

Set in 1942 at a boy’s boarding school, Devon School, in New Hampshire

Story is told as a flashback from the perspective of an older Gene

CharactersCharacters

Two best friends: Phineas and GenePhineas (Finny): athletic, reckless, charismatic Gene: intellectual, shy, competitive

Others: Elwin Lepellier (Leper), Brinker Hadley, Phil Latham, Mr. Ludsbery, Cliff Quackenbush, Dr. Stanpole

Theme TopicsTheme Topics

Coming of Age War Identity

Point of ViewPoint of View

Told in the first-person point of view by Gene

Now an adult, he is looking at things from a much wiser and more mature perspective.