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Post by amandakaliner on Oct 30, 2015 20:03:12 GMT
Allusions are used expertly throughout A Separate Peace. Especially biblical illusions. Finny is often referred to as a Christ figure or as Lazarus, who was a hero in the bible. Finny being referred to this way so often highlights the fact that Gene sees Finny as someone who is above him and someone who is a savior and a hero. More importantly, a sacrificial hero, because as we see at the end of the book, Finny dies, which is often interpreted as the fact that Finny needs to die so that Gene can move on to adulthood. Also, the Devon river can be interpreted to symbolize innocence and childhood, like the garden of Eden is. Another biblical illusion can be seen with the story of Cain and Able. Cain is jealous of Able, his brother, since God favored him, and he killed him. Gene becomes jealous of Finny and metaphorically kills him by pushing him off the tree, or at least thinking that he did. This kills Finny because it ends his athletic career and his hopes of ever inlisting.
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Post by cnelson on Nov 1, 2015 4:34:13 GMT
Yup, these biblical references were definitely the most major allusions in ASP, but I also noticed quite a few historical allusions. Such as on page 133 when "All eyes swung next upon Brinker. He had been holding a pose above his cider of Gibraltar invulnerability". The rock of Gibraltar is known to have been the location of many battles and sieges throughout history. The fact that Knowles uses this allusion to describe Binker is extremely significant. It creates the direct characterization that Brinker is someone who is unbeatable, and stands strong against opposition, such as the rock of Gibraltar. Brinker is basically characterized as hard-headed which can also be seen as foreshadowing because Brinker's refusal to listen to Gene when he told him not to tell Finny the truth is basically what pushes him to do exactly that ,resulting Finny falling down the stars.
Another historical allusion can also be when Gene was translating Caesar for Finny and read the translation out loud to him (Pg. 162). Gene illustrates the story of how Caesar won the Gallic war, and Gene told Finny it meant that "Caesar isn't doing well." He then goes on to explain that even through Caesar won the war it really doesn't make him great or almighty that he didn't deserve to be praised as much as he is in literature. This allusion particularly shows a possibly strong opinion of Knowles himself. It illistrates how he dislikes the concept of war in general, and that those who lead the war and the war itself should not be glorified. Since He had experienced WWII himself, as a teenager and as a soldier, he demonstrated many of his thoughts and feelings towards war through Gene's war related allusions and references.
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