Foreshadowing in A Separate Peace

Foreshadowing is used in A Separate Peace to hint at Gene’s coming-of-age inciting incident, his epiphany moment, and Finny’s inevitable death. Sometimes this foreshadowing is explicit through symbols and other times it is implicit through diction and tone. The explicit foreshadowing is seen through the symbols of the tree and the marble stairs; these are the two places that Gene visits as his older self, which foreshadows the locations of his inciting incident and of his epiphany moment. After Gene visits the tree, he says, “I was thankful, very thankful that I had seen it. So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all”. This clearly foreshadows a big event to occur at that location; the reader can tell that this tree will play a significant role in Gene’s coming-of-age story. The implicit foreshadowing is seen through the narrator’s tone and diction. Throughout the story, the narrator uses words that are reflective of his friendship with Finny. It’s as if Finny is a mere memory and is not a part of Gene’s older life. This tone implies that Finny is a thing of the past, therefore foreshadowing his death. The most obvious foreshadowing of Finny’s tragic death is when Gene goes back to Devon to visit the tree and says, “Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence”. Whether it is explicit or implicit, foreshadowing in A Separate Peace plays a substantial role to hint at important events during Gene’s story that would have an effect on him for the rest of his life.