A Separate Peace - FriendshipWe have all experienced friendship in our lives; some of these bonds were lasting and others were not. A Separate Peace is a book about friendship between high school students. These boys attend an all-boys school called Devon School. It is said that: "Devon is sometimes considered the finest school in New England." “Devon was both scholarly and very athletic.” It was in Devon that Gene Forrester, Phineas (Finny) and Elwin (Leper) Lepellier attended school. Author John Knowles tells the story during World War II. This period forces boys to think about what branch of the military they want to enlist in. The main focuses of this book are war, conformity or agreement, and friendship. War is a theme because throughout the book, World War II encroaches on Finny and Gene's separate peace. Conformity is a theme because Finny puts constant pressure on all the boys, especially Gene, to do rebellious things. They give in to peer pressure and do things like jump from trees even if it breaks the rules. They wanted to follow the crowd and Finny represents the crowd. Friendship is the most visible theme of the book and since friendship is based on mutual need, Finny and Gene are best friends. Finny has things that Gene needs and Gene has things that Finny needs. I will explain the meaning of a separate peace to Leper Lepellier, Phineas and Gene Forrester. When we first meet Leper, he is one of the boys standing at the base of the jumping tree. He refuses to jump from the tree into the river. He makes an offer: “Bidding for an ally.” Leper would like to fit in by jumping from the tree, but Leper has his own separate peace, so he doesn't need to jump from the tree. He says he will take the initiation jump to join the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session but he never does. When the other boys shovel snow from the railroad tracks to help a train carrying soldiers get to the military base, it really "brings the war home." Instead of helping the other boys in the war effort, Leper cross-country skis to Beaver Dam. Leper does this to achieve a peace distinct from the reality of war. Although Leper was the first to enlist in the army, he received a discharge from Section Eight..