A Separate Peace contains many themes, motifs and symbols, which occur throughout the book. Some of them are present throughout the book, like the tree Finny falls off and the presence and significance of sport. Other themes exist as part of Gene's consciousness and his relationship with Finny, such as the threat of codependency and the creation of inner enemies. In addition, there are many ambiguous factors that remain unresolved, such as the reliability of Gene as a narrator and whether Gene was responsible for the fall.[4]
Co-dependency and identity
The central relationship between Gene and Finny is a model of codependency. After the fall, the two become reliant on each other for fulfilment. Gene's submissive nature leads to his lacking a strong identity without Finny. Finny, with his free, sport-loving spirit, can only be fulfilled by experiencing the sport through Gene after the fall. That is furthered by the characters' notion that World War II is merely a conspiracy, which creates a private illusion in which both Finny and Gene can exist together. Towards the end of the book, after Finny's death, Gene notes that he feels Finny's funeral is his own, as so much of his identity rests upon Finny.[4]
Athletics and blitzball
Athletics comprise a key part of Finny's personality. He views them as an expression of achievement and believes there are no winners or losers. That is epitomized by Finny's breaking of the school swimming record, which he does not feel the need to publicise, and Blitzball, a game that Finny spontaneously invents that has no winners or losers, which Finny excels at as it requires pure athleticism rather than focusing on defeat of opponents.[4]
Summer and Winter Sessions
The Summer Session at Devon School is defined by freedom, lack of rules and little academic study. This symbolises innocence and youth, which is "lost" when Finny falls from the tree, giving lead to the Winter Session. The Winter Session is defined as the polar opposite of the Summer Session: tight rules, rigorous study, little freedom and a cold and unforgiving atmosphere. The Sessions represent the shift from carefree youth to adulthood and maturity, which occurs throughout the novel.[4]
Finny's fall
Finny's fall from the tree marks the climax of the novel. It is both a literal and a symbolic fall. The literal fall has a knock-on effect of no sports for Finny, which leads to a loss of independence and identity. The symbolic fall represents a fall from innocence and from youth, and the beginning of the end of Finny and Gene's friendship. The fall can be interpreted as having biblical allusions; like Adam and Eve, Finny and Gene existed in a carefree, idyllic setting, epitomized by innocence (like Eden), which is tainted by a force of darkness (the snake or Gene's growing resentment) and then is shattered by a fall from innocence (the fall from the tree).[4]
Implied homoerotic undertones
Various parties have asserted that the novel implies homoeroticism between Gene and Finny, including those who endorse a queer reading of the novel and those who condemn homosexuality as immoral. For example, the book was challenged in the Vernon-Verona-Sherill, NY School District (1980) as a "filthy, trashy sex novel"[5] despite having no substantial female characters and describing no sexual activity.
Though frequently taught in US high schools, curricula related to A Separate Peace typically ignore a possible homoerotic reading in favor of engaging with the book as a historical novel or coming-of-age story.[6] Knowles denied any such intentions, stating in a 1987 newspaper interview:
Freud said any strong relationship between two men contains a homoerotic element... If so, in this case, both characters are totally unaware of it. It would have changed everything, it wouldn't have been the same story. In that time and place, my characters would have behaved totally differently... If there had been homoeroticism between Phineas and Gene, I would have put it in the book, I assure you. It simply wasn't there.[7]
