Justifying the fear

On the days of August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on two cities in Japan, which can seem horrific to many. This event can be even more horrific to innocent kids than adults, which gives them a reason to be scared. In the Separate Peace, Finny and Gene knew there was a war going on, even though Finny would tell everyone there wasn’t.

The stories or information they could’ve possibly heard brings them thoughts in the back of their heads. To begin with, Phineas and Gene spent time in Devon during the war. The war consisting of atomic bombs dropping and a fight between the United States and Japan. Finny and Gene knew that going into the military would mean they’d have to become adults and face the reality of it all. Later towards the end, he started realizing he couldn’t keep trying to lie to everyone, saying there was no war when there was. Finny even wanted to go into the military and fight after he realized he couldn’t do sports anymore. But, he was still scared about the war deep down.

After finding out what the war had done to Leper, Phineas finally decided to admit that there really was a war going on during that time. He knew what happened to Leper could happen to him and that possibly could’ve been the thought that scared him. Finny and Gene most likely believed that since the war wasn’t happening in their lives at the moment, they didn’t have anything to fear or worry about. After hearing about what happened to Leper and seeing him in person, they realized everything was true and it frightened them. In conclusion, Finny and Gene did know there was a war going on, and that thought scared the boys. They had justification for being scared for different reasons like Leper going crazy, the thought of facing the reality, and hearing the news about the people fighting outside of Devon. They started out in the stage of innocence and later on realized the innocence that they had, wasn’t going to last.