John Knowles' novel, A Separate Peace, reveals the many dangers and difficulties of adolescence. The main characters, Gene and Finny, spend their summer together at a boarding school called Devon. The two boys do everything together, until Gene, the main character, develops a resentful hatred towards his friend Finny. Gene becomes extremely jealous and envious of Finny, which fuels this resentment and eventually turns deadly. Knowles presents a look at the darker side of adolescence, showing the disastrous effects of jealousy. Gene's envious thoughts and jealous nature create an internal enemy that he must fight. Liberal humanist criticism reveals that Knowles's novel, A Separate Peace, has autonomous meaning, expresses the improvement of life, and reveals that human nature does not change. Knowles's novel, A Separate Peace, has a stand-alone meaning and theme, unrelated to other works. Throughout the novel, Finny creates a metaphorical shadow that overshadows Gene. Gene feels he must live in this shadow, becomes extremely envious and develops a resentful hatred. Finny continually convinces Gene to ditch his homework and go swimming or go on an adventure. These distractions only add to Gene's resentful hatred. He feels that he must now compete with Finny, academically and not athletically. “You would have gotten an A in this [class] without him. Except him… Finny had deliberately decided to destroy my studies… That way he, the great athlete, would be way ahead of me” (John Knowles 53.) This reinforces the author's theme that humans will create themselves enemies. The author expresses the idea that even when no conflict has broken out, humans will create their own enemies and wage war against...... middle of paper ...... the result, while acting will end badly. Knowles reveals this, showing that Gene creates an enemy, who would never hurt anyone, and ends up destroying him. This shows that human nature has not changed and will not change, but that people must fight this dangerous side of human nature, or watch self-destruction, like Gene. Knowles' moving novel, A Separate Peace, reveals many alarming aspects of adolescence. , and human nature. Knowles shows that humans will naturally develop an enemy and fight it. The main character Gene develops a resentful hatred, which leads to the untimely death of his friend Finny. Liberal humanist criticism reveals that the novel has autonomous meaning, expresses the improvement of life, and shows that human nature is immutable. Works Cited Knowles, John. A separate peace. New York: John Knowles, Inc...1959.