Comparison between A Separate Peace and Looking for Alaska A Separate Peace is set in a Vermont boarding school in the 1940s, while Looking for Alaska is set in an Alabama boarding school in the early 21st century, but despite the differences in setting, these books can be compared through the similar goals of their characters. In A Separate Peace there is Finny and in Looking for Alaska there is Alaska, these characters serve a similar purpose in their respective stories. The purpose of Finny and Alaska is to introduce an extraordinary, interesting and unique character, to provide a connection to the main character and to demonstrate that everyone can suffer from internal collapse. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first major purpose of Finny and Alaska is to demonstrate a unique personality that is central to the connections between Finny, Alaska, and Gene and Miles. In A Separate Peace, Finny is shown as an incredible, seemingly perfect athlete. This statement is exemplified by Gene's description of Finny playing blitzball; "he created reverses, deceptions and acts of pure mass hypnotism that were so extraordinary that they surprised even him." (Knowles 31) Furthermore, Finny is shown to have an honorable character, as illustrated by his set of rules, as described by Gene: "'Never say you're five foot seven when you're five foot seven'" was the first . I met. Another was: “Always say some prayers in the evening because it might turn out that God exists.” But the one that had the most pressing influence on his life was: “You always win in sport.” (Knowles 26) The irony is that he does not follow the school rules, but that does not require a dishonorable character. In Looking for Alaska, Alaska is described as a unique and interesting character and shares some similarities with Finny. The most obvious similarity is his desire to break school rules. Although Finny and Alaska are somewhat similar, there are major differences between them. First of all, Alaska is not considered unique for being athletic or incredibly good at sports. Instead, Alaska is presented as a physically attractive, interesting, and sometimes unstable character. Secondly, Alaska is shown to have self-destructive behavior and be very impulsive, and this is demonstrated by her excessive smoking and drinking habits. “She smiled with all the joy of a child on Christmas morning and said, 'You will all smoke for fun. I smoke to die.'” (Green 44) Although this is meant somewhat jokingly, this quote still exemplifies his self-destructive behavior due to his heavy smoking. Although Finny appears to be somewhat impulsive, he does not share Alaska's self-destructive behavior. While they have similarities, their differences point to a slightly different purpose. Alaska proves to be more imperfect than Finny who proves to be, in a certain sense, perfect. Finny's main flaw is his inability to accept that everything isn't perfect, as demonstrated by his inability to accept the truth. Finny's misunderstood version of reality ultimately leads to his death due to his failure to realize that Gene had begun to distrust him. Likewise, Alaska's impulsiveness also ultimately causes her death due to her irresponsible driving. Finny and Alaska's second main purpose is to provide a connection to Gene and Miles respectively. Gene and Miles are the voice in each book, but they aren't necessarily the most important characters. In A Separate Peace, the story is told from Gene's point of view, yet almost all of it is about Finny and he is importantas much as Gene, if not more. Finding Alaska is told through Miles, but as in A Separate Peace, most of the story is about Alaska and she is at least as important as Miles. Finny is introduced as Gene's best friend and during their summer in Devon , encourages Gene to break the school rules. However, their friendship isn't perfect and Gene becomes paranoid that Finny is trying to limit his studies by wasting his time. This is indicative of a highly competitive atmosphere in Devon. This omnipresent attitude causes Gene to cause Finny's accident and, ultimately, his death. After Finny's accident, however, it becomes clear that Gene regrets causing it and is aware that his previous assumptions were wrong. Gene is full of remorse and anger towards himself: “I hit him hard in the face. For a moment I didn't know why; it was as if I were mutilated. Then the awareness that there was someone who had hit me." (Knowledge 71). This example makes it clear that Gene is, at the very least, angry at himself for causing Finny's accident because he hit Quackenbush after being called a cripple. In Finding Alaska, Alaska is not just a friend, but a love interest for Miles. The connection between Miles and Alaska is further complicated by the addition of the Colonel and, to a lesser extent, Takumi; they also become friends with Miles and thus become entangled in the story. Similarly to Finny, Alaska encouraged Miles to break school rules and participate in pranks on the weekday warriors. After Alaska's death, Miles spent much of his time grieving and attempting to decipher her death with the Colonel. From this it is clear that he not only cared about Alaska, but wanted to know more about her and the interesting circumstances of her death. Miles was partially responsible for Alaska's death, as he and the Colonel allowed Alaska to drive while drunk. Therefore he was not only filled with grief over Alaska's death, but also regret over his irresponsibility. From these connections it can be determined that an interesting and unique character must also have a strong connection to the main character. The third major purpose of Finny and Alaska is to demonstrate that anyone can suffer from internal collapse. During a Separate Peace, Finny refuses to accept that everything isn't perfect. He refuses to believe that there are losers in sports, even though there clearly are. He refuses to believe that Gene caused his accident: "'I deliberately jerked the limb so you would fall.' He looked older than I had ever seen him. 'Of course not.'” (Knowles 62) He continues with this attitude even as it becomes abundantly clear that Gene actually caused his accident increasingly troubled: “'You've got it all figured out!' I've never seen Finny cry, 'Gather every fucking fact in the world!' He rushed out the doors” (Knowles 169). This quote shows that Finny did not want the facts of his accident to be revealed, most likely because he eventually found out that Gene was the cause of it. Finny then fell down the stairs and was injured again, this time he was killed by his own bone marrow. Finny's death is symbolic because it illustrates his internal collapse, through a death with a proximate internal cause. In Finding Alaska, Alaska's death was almost caused solely by her own behavior, as her death was caused by drunk driving. Her internal collapse was ultimately the result of her mother's death and her inaction when this happened little regard for his own life. Miles.