A Separate Peace
(John Knowles)

Gene Forrester

The narrator of the novel and a student at Devon who grew up in the south. When the novel opens, Gene is visiting the school as an adult and reflecting on the time he spent there, starting with the summer session in which his life changed forever.

Throughout the novel, Gene is tormented with the idea that he caused his best friend and roommate, Finny, to fall from a tree, breaking his leg, out of jealousy and resentment. Gene is a good student and obeys the rules, except when Finny convinces him to break them. He and Finny have a very tight bond that almost seems toxic, though they rely on one another more than even they seem to know.

Phineas (Finny)

Finny is a tremendous athlete who has broken many school records, extremely charming, a bit of a rebel, and well-liked by everyone. Despite that the fact that Finny is athletic he is not competitive as he would rather have a good time playing a sport than win, which is why the games he invents do not usually have teams.

Gene admires and is jealous of Finny’s relaxed attitude on life and his carefree outlook and even sees him as a sort of super-human, even though Finny is a poor student which is what matters to Gene the most. Finny falls from a tree, shattering his leg and taking sports away from him forever and eventually re-breaks it which leads to his death.

Elwin Lepellier (Leper)

Leper is a bit of a dreamer and lives in his own head in a world where there is nothing wrong, much like Finny who refuses to believe there is a war going on. Leper loves nature and being outdoors, choosing to cross-country ski to find a beaver dam rather than help the other boys shovel off the train tracks for the troops that will be passing through.

Leper believes that Gene shook the tree branch on purpose so that Finny would fall, which scares Gene. Leper joins the army when he finds out that he can ski there, though he soon goes a bit crazy and goes AWOL before they can give him a section eight discharge.

Brinker Hadley

Brinker is a tough senior boy who is a model student as he gets good grades and participates in many of the school organizations. He moves into the room that Leper had previously lived in when the winter session starts as Leper had been moved to a different dorm.

Brinker has a knack for writing bad poetry and a thirst to enlist in the military, which he and Gene decide to do until Finny comes back to school and Gene decides he no longer wants to leave. Brinker makes it his mission to prove that Gene pushed Finny out of the tree, and his persistence in the matter eventually leads to Finny’s death. Brinker decided against the war at one point, and upon, graduation joined the Coast Guard, so he would not be drafted, much to the disappointment of his war-loving father.

Chet Douglass

Chet is also a student at Devon and is one of the boys who is at the tree the day Finny and Gene jump for the first time. Chet is usually in the group of boys that Gene and Finny find themselves surrounded with as he participates in Finny’s attempts to alleviate the boredom of Devon – blitzball and the carnival.

Chet is a great student, like Gene, and is the biggest competition for Gene in terms of becoming valedictorian. The difference between Gene and Chet is that Gene is very competitive and needs to prove that he is the best at something but Chet just genuinely likes to learn and study.

Dr. Stanpole

Dr. Stanpole is the doctor on campus at Devon and runs the infirmary. The Doctor is the one who looks after Finny in both instances where his leg is broken, and communicates with Gene mostly about Finny’s condition, knowing they are close.

It is Dr. Stanpole who has to tell Gene that Finny died while having his leg reset after the second break, and he is very regretful about it, knowing that, with the war going on, the boys are going to lose a lot of their friends. He says that a piece of marrow must have dislodged and travelled to Finny’s heart, killing him.

Mr. Patch-Withers

Mr. Patch-Withers is the substitute headmaster of Devon while the school is in summer session. He is very strict and seems basically emotionless. Mr. Patch-Withers and his wife have some of the boys over for tea one afternoon, which seems an awkward experience for all involved except for Finny who is the center of attention and very animated.

At first he is upset that Finny has worn a pink shirt and used his school tie as a belt but when Finny explains himself in his charming way Mr. Patch-Withers clearly admires him and actually laughs.

Mr. Ludsbury

Mr. Ludsbury is the regular headmaster at Devon School. When the boys return for the fall semester, he has a talk with Gene about his disregard for the rules during summer session and is surprised with his lack of discipline as Gene is generally a quite disciplined student. When Gene and Finny tells the headmaster about the Olympic training that Gene is doing Mr. Ludsbury reminds them that any training done on campus will be for the war, to which Finny replies “no”, shocking Mr. Ludsbury as he is not accustomed to being talk-backed to.

Quackenbush

Quackenbush is the captain of the crew team who ridicules Gene relentlessly when he wishes to become manager of the team. Managers are generally disabled students, not perfectly healthy and athletic ones, though Gene knows the reason he does not want to play any sports is because Finny can no longer play sports. Quackenbush calls Gene by his last name, “Forrester”, and his relentless teasing of Gene leads to them getting in a scuffle and falling in the very dirty river where the crew team practices. Like many of the boys, Quackenbush wishes to join the military upon graduating.

Hazel Brewster

Though Hazel never appears in the story, as Devon is an all-boys school, she is somewhat of a legend and is presumably a very pretty girl from town. During the carnival, there is a snow sculpture made of her likeness, and also a lock of her hair, somehow obtained, is set to be one of the carnival prizes.

Brownie Perkins

Brownie is Brinker Hadley’s roommate and is a bit of a servant for Brinker, all too gladly. Brownie has the very important job of guarding the hard cider while the boys are preparing for the winter carnival and he is also the boy who delivers Gene a telegram from Leper. Leper’s telegram reveals to Gene that he has escaped and will be at the “Christmas location.” Brownie is a very timid boy, and it is obvious that he just wants to fit in with the other boys and be accepted as one of the group.

Mr. Carhart

Mr. Carhart is the chaplain of the school and leads the church ceremony each morning. Mr. Carhart believes that God is aiding the Americans in fighting the war, though Finny adamantly believes that the war is made up by fat old men who sit around and want to control the youth. After Leper goes AWOL from the army and sneaks back onto campus, Mr. Carhart is who he visits first, as he is obviously in a bad mental state and in need of some guidance.

Phil Latham

Phil Latham is the wrestling coach at Devon School. He is one of the men the boys seek for help after Finny falls down the marble stairs as he is trained in first aid. He helps Finny to relax and helps Dr. Stanpole to get Finny to the infirmary safely. While Finny is in the infirmary, Phil Latham gives Gene some wrestling tips to, unsuccessfully, keep his mind off things.

Mrs. Lepellier

Mrs. Lepellier is Leper’s mother. Gene meets Mrs. Lepellier when he goes to Vermont to meet Leper upon receiving his telegram. Gene assumes that Leper has escaped from spies as it would be silly of him to escape from the army. However, Gene finds that Leper has gone AWOL and is having some serious mental issues which causes him to lash out, out of fear, which concerns Mrs. Lepellier greatly. She is mad at Gene for attacking her son who she says is “ill” but she eventually forgives him when he agrees to stay for lunch and is very polite and thankful to her.

Mr. Hadley

Mr. Hadley is Brinker’s father, and Gene meets him at the end of the school year. Mr. Hadley seems to be one of the fat old men who love war that Finny was always talking about. He shares his thoughts on war with Brinker and Gene, neither of whom appreciate his stand though Gene seems to understand where he is coming from, much to Brinker’s dismay. He believes that Gene and Brinker are weak for being pacifists and states that he enjoyed fighting in the First World War. Brinker thinks that his father and others who fought in WWI are the reason that WWII is happening.