A Separate Peace
One of the most revered and utterly enigmatic topics present within humanity is the evolution of humankind itself. Collectively contrasting both the origins of man physically and the very beginning of complex thought processes has been an incredible task, which is currently undetermined. The exact methods of the mind and of human character are both delicate and completely beyond true understanding. The only ways we as a race retain the ability to even attempt to comprehend such processes is through experimentation and elaboration via written text and visual arts. The process of human mental evolution, the evolution of character, is well demonstrated within the novel A Separate Peace authored by John Knowles. Knowles creates such an atmosphere as to carry you as the reader into the minds of the characters. The characters, in a like manner, attempt to delve into their own understanding and determine the whole of an immense complexity of emotions shared between themselves and the other characters. The use of this type of perception is furthered by the narrator's transformation from the very beginning to the very end, and the stories entire basis upon a flashback. The story itself takes place years before the narrator, named Gene, begins to speak of the incidents of which it is composed. This maturation of the young Gene mentioned in the story and the older adult Gene we meet at the very beginning allows us a sense of how Gene as a character evolved. Everybody has their own methods and their own "style" in a manner of speaking, of evolving both physically and mentally. Once you as the reader understand a character's method of evolution, it becomes much easier to understand that c! haracter's thinking pattern and any actions he or she may take further into the story. Before I dive headfirst into the presence of character, I want to mention the incredible use of descriptive and artistic wording to create a rather fantastic sense of setting....
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