A Separate Peace by John Knowles Book Analysis Essay Sample

The novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles includes a scene where the two main characters, Gene and Finny, are at the beach, and Gene describes the morning sunrise. As he slowly awakens, his perception of the world around him is gloomy and miserable, but as he begins to awaken, he slowly watches the world come to life. The transition from awful to pleasant is shown in the paragraph through the change of colors, from gray to white, and through the change of death to life.

The scene in which the main characters awaken at the beach shows the transition from bad to good in its color choice. When the main character, Gene, just wakes up, he describes what he saw saying, “It began not as the gorgeous fanfare over the ocean I had expected, but as a strange gray thing, like sunshine seen through burlap” (Knowles 22).  In the quote, Gene summarizes the sad and poor beach that was shown to him when he first woke up, unlike what he thought the beach would look like. In fact, the color gray is used repeatedly in the passage, the repetition  describes Gene’s dull and gloomy surroundings. However, as the passage progresses and Gene awakens, the color gray is turned into the color white. Near the end of the passage, where Gene is almost fully awake, Knowles describes the beach by saying, “and finally it was totally white and stainless, as pure as the shores of Eden” (Knowles 22). The author expresses the beach with the color white, a pure and joyful color that is associated with cheerful items and activities. By doing so, the location can be seen as a beautiful and elegant place to be. The transition from gray to white, or from colorless to colorful, shows the transformation of a bad scene to a good one. Likewise, the transition from dead to alive shows the change from a bad and tragic event, to a happy and joyful moment.

The beach passage also shows the transition from bad to good through the change of death to life. In the passage, the protagonist, Gene, as Phineas sleeps. Knowles describes Phineas by stating, “He [Phineas] was still asleep, although in this drained light he looked more dead than asleep” (Knowles 22). Knowles conveys sorrow and despondency through describing the sleeping character as being dead. The word dead is used constantly in the passage, and is used to describe the hate in the beginning. In spite of the hate, Knowles brings the main character and the scene back to life with the use of the words alive and life. Near the end of the passage when Gene looks at Phineas, he says, “Phineas, still asleep on his dune, made me think of Lazarus, brought back to life by the touch of God” (Knowles 22). Knowles states that the character Phineas is seen awakened from the dead, as God brought Lazarus back to life in the bible. Life is usually narrated as a very joyous and cheerful essential item that allows us to fulfill the things that we want to complete. By changing from dead to alive in the passage, Knowles shows the change from the bad and fearful entity, to the good item that allows us to be joyful and glad.

The change from bad to good is illustrated in the passage, through the change from gray to white, and the change from dead to alive. The passage uses the color gray to describe the dark and mordant scene. However, as Gene begins to awaken, Knowles uses the color white to show the happiness and the purity of the beach's sunrises. Similarly, the author uses the word dead to express Phineas’ sleep, as well as the morbid and sad moment. Knowles proceeds to use the word alive to bring Phineas back to life, and all of the other objects around them to happiness. The transitions and dynamics throughout the novel.