Influence of War on Characters Historical events can play an important role in a person's life. In A Separate Peace, the entire atmosphere at Devon School changed as World War II progressed. The boys either looked forward to the draft, enlisted in the war zone they wanted, or didn't want to go at all. The students of the school created new activities to have fun as the usual past times could not be practiced due to lack of materials. When a friend "returns" from the war, the Devon boys get a real sense of what the war was like. The boys learned that going to war was not all fun and games as they expected. The influence that the Second World War had on the characters in A Separate Peace and on life at Devon School was clearly portrayed through their actions and activities. The beginning of the novel gives the reader an idea of ​​what Devon School was like during that time. period of time. Students of 'war age' were constantly leaving Devon to go to war, either by choice or by conscription. Whether the children wanted to go or not, the anticipation was always present. As winter approached the Devon school, so did the encroaching shadow of war. The boys were called to help shovel free a troop convoy trapped from snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brings the war home" for all of them, and they realize that very soon they would face a crucial decision. Maturity came to them, whether they were ready or not, at the tender age of seventeen. The excitement of the war had infected everyone at the school, including the staff, making it a chaotic place. The boys were...middle of the road...just as different because of his experience.****I like how you incorporate quotes from the book into your thoughts in these sentences:When a friend "returns" from the war, the boys from Devon they got a real sense of what war was like. The boys were called upon to help shovel free a troop train trapped from snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brought the war home" for all of them, and they realized that they would face a crucial decision very soon.****You need to be consistent with tenses. To fix the problem you can do one of two things. You can change the tense of the verb in the quote and enclose it in parentheses to show that you have changed the tense. (e.g. "return[ed]" "[brought]") Or you can simply change the tense of your entire discussion to present tense, which is commonly done when discussing books.