In John Knowles book A Separate Peace he communicates how the war was taking its toll on him He uses the characters in a complicated plot to show the destructive forces of war The characters Gene and Finny are the opposing forces in a struggle between the reality of war World War II and a separate peace A peace away from the real war and the awful things that come from it Through their relationship which is a struggle on both sides Knowles establishes the reality of war through a relationship G