themes

THEMES
-The main theme revolves
around the pain of growing into manhood.
Danger of jealousy: Although openly a friend
to Finny, Gene was really extremely jealous of this well-liked and
talented student. His jealousy was so intense that it led him to
bounce Finny out of the tree, causing him to become a cripple and
indirectly causing his death.

A second minor theme is the pain of war. The backdrop for the
entire novel is World War II, which is in sharp contrast to the
peaceful and removed surroundings of Devon; but as students begin to
leave the school to join the military, the separate peace of Devon is
impacted
Denial: Both Gene and Finny experience a great deal of denial in the novel, but of different types. Gene tries his best to deny that he hurt Finny, and that he has a dark streak in his nature that causes him t...