A separate peace: fiction to films

"All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way–if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy."Gene remarked. (p.196) A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is the story of an alumni from the Devon School, Gene, and when he ponders back to his years there.You relive his internal conflicts and struggles which put him against his best friend at times.All of this occurs during World War II and you see how the teenage boys dealt with the battle.The message in A Separate Peace is that internal conflict leads people to make out others to be their enemies, when their biggest enemies are themselves.This isn't accurately depicted in the film A Separate Peace, directed by Larry Peerce, because Peerce chose to focus on the conflict of man versus man rather than man versus himself. Through narration, in the novel you see many internal struggles.Gene, who is the narrator, gives you a clear picture of his difficulties as well as some of the other characters' troubles.Gene's internal struggles and how they lead him to irrational actions are clearly evident throughout the book.He convinced himself that Finny was against him and "had deliberately set out to wreck his studies."(p.45) He builds up this protection against his so-called enemy by studying and planning on being the best student academically at Devon.Gene is at a constant battle with himself to prove that he is worth something.(p.148) His jealousy and enmity that he feels towards Finny eventually lead him to brake Finny's leg, by making him fall out of a tree, which eventually leads to Finny dying.(p.185) Phineas had never planned to wreck his studies though, and everything that Gene built up in his head was out of his imagination and was false.He created an enemy with h…