A Separate peace

Every child is born innocent. None of us are ever brought into this world knowledgeable about the trails and atrocities we will inevitably have to encounter. We see the world as a good place with no wrongdoing, full of opportunity. As the character Leper in A Separate Peace says, "everything has to evolve or else it perishes" (117). Leper's words point out that as we grow up, we slowly begin, to see the world's harsh realities. …

…holds tight to naivety and innocence, and in the end, perishes. A feeble branch that blows in the wind through the hard winter months is all the while on the verge of breaking. If it breaks, it withers and perishes, and if it lives, then it only grows stronger than before. Just in this way, Finny snaps in the harsh winters of adolescence while Gene survives, lives on, and only blooms brighter in the end.