As Yoda once said, "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering." This is a dominant idea in John Knowles' A Separate Peace. The novel is set during World War II and traces the time that the main character, Gene, spends at an elementary school called Devon. It is there that she meets and forms a strong love-hate relationship with a boy named Finny. The two become best friends, but Gene soon develops intense jealousy towards Finny. This is due to Gene's insecurities, namely the fear of not being good enough. Gene brings with him many fears that are the root of the tragedies that will then unfold in the novel. In Knowles' A Separate Peace, Gene's fear ultimately leads to suffering. Throughout the novel, Gene possesses several fears. Gene is very afraid of jumping from a tree branch. Due to peer pressure, Gene is forced to jump from the tree into a river. Gene doesn't like this task and it scares him terribly. When he is about to dive for the first time, he is filled with fear: "This tree flooded me with a sensation of alarm until my fingers tingled" (8). This makes it clear that he is terrified of jumping. Despite successfully jumping off, Gene's fear does not go away. In fact, he has to suffer every time he jumps: "I never got used to the jump. With each encounter the branch seemed higher, thinner, the deeper water more difficult to reach" (25). Gene clearly has a fear of heights that makes every leap he makes a complete nightmare. Another of Gene's fears is the fear of being drafted into Almassi 2 during the war. Boys who are around the same age as Gene are constantly being drafted for the war. The thought of being drafted terrifies Gene after…middle of the paper…Gene's fault. This time, however, the consequences are much more tragic. While the doctor is fixing his leg, some bone marrow enters his bloodstream and flows directly into his heart, causing it to stop. Gene's hatred led Finny to lose his life. Finny's death is nothing less than a heartbreaking calamity. He was one of the truly good people in the world, who possessed no inner evil. He was crushed by the hatred in the world and his life was taken away from him. In Knowles' A Separate Peace, Gene begins with his many fears, including his insecurities which were also the root of his anger. Once he is angry, he allows that anger to grow to catastrophic levels so that he develops a huge hatred for Finny. Ultimately, Gene's hatred leads to suffering for both Gene and Finny. Gene feels guilty for his actions when he was sued by the Works for A Separate Peace