A Separate Peace is about a boy who changes dramatically over the period of a year. Gene and his best friend Finny attend Devon School during World War II. Finny is an innocent dreamer and Gene lives by the rules of others. This causes much stress from the two friends and one day Gene causes the fall of Finny out of the great tree by the river where he shatters his leg and is unable to play sports any longer. From then on Gene carries guilt from the "accident" with him wherever he goes. Later on one of the boys attending the school, Brinker, sets up a mock trial to find out what the true cause of Finny's accident was. While Finny knew that Gene had done it all along he runs from the mock trial and falls down a set of marble stairs and breaks the same leg. Finally, tragedy befalls Devon School with a surprising twist that even Gene never expected.