Throughout human history, war has been a universal reaction to various conflicts between various peoples. War can become ingrained in a culture over generations of fighting. This can generate cultures based on the concept of war, creating hostile and warlike peoples. Sometimes the war does not even have a basis, but the aggressive nature of the population often pushes it to take place without justification. These wars are often fought due to perceptions conceived deep in people's imaginations. Irrational assumptions, fears of the unknown and the development of non-existent threats allow these wars to be justified within individuals. In A Separate Peace, such wars are seen between the characters and within the characters of Gene and Phineas. A Separate Peace by John Knowles reveals that Gene's perceived war with Phineas and Phineas's internal conflict with World War II are intertwined with each other through Gene's misunderstanding of Phineas and Phineas's dependence on regard for Gene to escape the awareness of the war itself. Phineas is an individual. who is unable to accept war and, in retaliation for war, attempts to avoid it altogether. Phineas describes to Gene that "there is no war" and that there are "fat old men" who create war just to keep "people who were young...in their place" (Knowles 115). At this point, Phineas explicitly denies the existence of war. His direct denial of the existence of the war suggests that he cannot face his fears about the war, and in his fear he takes steps to separate himself from the war through denial. Phineas has anti-war ideals that lead him to take this stance. Gene reveals these ideals when he tries to explain to him that if he had to go to war, he...... middle of paper ......o avoid conversations about the leper and the war. Phineas' avoidance of the war is then compounded by the focus on Gene's Olympic training, as this serves to distract Phineas from the war. While Gene's war with Phineas is motivated by an ignorance of the enemy he perceives, Phineas' war with World War II is motivated by an inability to accept the reality of war and an inability to define the enemy. Unfortunately, these wars become intertwined because of Gene's misconceptions about Phineas and Gene's role as Phineas' codependent. While World War II has a tangible justification, Phineas and Gene's youth, lack of life experiences, weakness of character, and fear act to drive their wars, but ultimately, their wars are caused " by something ignorant in the human heart” (201). ).Works CitedKnowles, John. A separate peace. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.