Everyone, at some point, has an experience that alters their lives so profoundly that it seems to define time itself. For many Americans, the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 fractured their lives into two pieces: before and after. World War II similarly affected people of the time, particularly adolescents, for whom the world of childhood was distinct from the world of adulthood, the world of war. The characters in John Knowles' novel A Separate Peace struggle to find their identity as they transition into adulthood amid the looming threat of World War II and their own personal wars. Every boy at Devon School reacts differently to growing up. The complicated relationships between Leper, Finny and Gene, as well as the plot and setting of the novel, explore this identity crisis in a historical period in which adolescent boys defined themselves in terms of war, because the transition from children to adults it was clearly defined by military conscription. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although he isn't willing to jump out of the tree after Finny and Gene or volunteer to shovel snow, Leper is the first kid to respond to the draft and take the proverbial leap. His reaction to the war surprises everyone. Before he leaves, he is quiet and kind, with a "wide and unfocused" smile (Knowles 99). Leper makes an important observation about responses to war, right before deciding to enlist, when he says, "...I'm almost happy that this war has come. It's like a test, isn't it, and just the things and the people who evolved the right way survive'" (Knowles 125). The war ultimately breaks Leper, because he is unable to handle change. His hallucinations are about change; of the corporal's face "turning into faces [he] knew" and into a woman, and of a broom turning into a severed leg (Knowles 150). The ever-changing nature of war harms him: he remains in the dining room because of his reliability, where "[he] never [wonders] what will happen" (Knowles 142). He faces war as well as his future, but is unprepared for the harsh realities of both. Finny is the symbol of childhood and innocence. He is optimistic, but refuses to see the darkness in life, insisting instead, “Winter loves him…as much as any season can be said to love” (Knowles 111). This view that everything he loves will love him is sadly proven more false than true by his rejection by the military and Gene's jealousy of him. His downfall, which coincidentally begins with the fall of the school year and, metaphorically, the transition to adulthood, is the event that forces the boys of Devon School to respond to the reality of war. Finny transforms from an athlete into a cripple and must face the idea that something he wants he might not want. He does this by finding a separate peace, a childlike indifference, and pretending that war cannot touch him; in fact, he completely denies its existence. Gene describes it as “the essence of this carefree peace” (Knowles 24). As the two boys approach draft age, they remain hidden in this dangerous ignorance of the war, especially Phineas, as he is also unaware of the second, more personal war with his "best friend" (Knowles 48). Finny, a representation of the purity and perfection of childhood, escapes the sad fate of war, although he unknowingly fights with Gene. If Finny symbolizes childhood, Gene symbolizes adulthood and impending war. To Finny, Gene's "'West Point Stride' [is] intolerable" (Knowles 19). Gene has a different kind of.