A Separate Peace - Growing UpWorld War II affected the boys in A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, causing them to grow and mature more rapidly than they would have had it not been a war. The war made some kids stronger and more ready for whatever life would bring, while in others it disabled them to the point that they could no longer handle the demands of life. The maturing influence of the war on Finny was considerable, even if he did. to the other kids it didn't seem like he was growing up at all. Gene's jealousy drives him to the point where he must destroy Finny's greatest asset, his prowess at sports, just so he doesn't have to be "the popular kid's friend". Gene knocks Finny off the tree branch and breaks his leg. Everyone in Devon except Finny suspects that Gene caused Finny to fall from the branch, not Finny's loss of balance. Finny's take on the whole situation is very adult. He didn't blame anyone but himself, even though it wasn't his fault at all. It seems that Finny will never grow up because he is so immature, with his silly denial of the existence of war and his habit of always inventing strange things to do just for fun . Inside he suffers from anger and pain of being excluded from the one thing he wants to do most, fight in the war. This is an excellent example of how the war suddenly made boys grow up to be men, and in order to do that, they had to become adults. Another boy in the story who was raised by the war was Leper. When he sees movies about ski troops, he thinks they're funny, so he surprises everyone by enlisting. Leper wasn't sure what he was getting himself into when he enlisted. He thought it looked like a fun ski trip; he could serve his country and ski all over the world at the same time. Most average teenagers don't have to deal with the pressure of a war and shortage of everything, so Leper had to grow up to handle the pressure of war..