The quote "Ignorance is bliss" by Thomas Gray is a seemingly adequate description of the lives of Gene, Finny, and Leper until they are all abruptly shaken from their worlds fantastic and brought back to reality. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles does an acceptable job of showing how disillusionment can have a great impact and, therefore, change people's lives. The book showcases the cycle of disillusionment and the ramifications it entails. Throughout the book, we see Gene, Leper, and Finny's opinions on changing the world. All of this culminates in Gene being elevated to a higher level of understanding the world and seeing the truth about Devon and the war. The illusions created by Finny and Leper are also adopted by Gene, and he, in turn, shares their disillusionment. Overall, disillusionment is a part of life and often serves as a tool to help many people grow and learn from the past. For Finny and Gene, the summer session at Devon was a time of blissful happiness and a time when they allowed themselves to become completely overwhelmed by their own illusions. The summer session was the complete embodiment of peace and freedom and Gene saw Devon as an oasis of peace. For them the war was light years away and was more of a dream than a real event. In Devon it was difficult for them to imagine that war could exist. Finny and Gene founded the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session and behaved in the wildest and most rowdy ways. Skipping dinner or being absent from school for days to go to the beach didn't even earn them a reprimand. “I think we reminded them what peace was, we sixteen-year-old boys… We were careless and wild, and I suppose we might take that as a sign of the life the war was being fought for… … middle of paper . ..... he couldn't see anyone as his enemy. Gene had his own enemy to kill: “I never killed anyone and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy that I wore the uniform; I was on active duty all the time I was in school; There I killed my enemy. Only Phineas never feared, only Phineas never hated anyone (Knowles 196).” To conclude, disillusionment played a considerable role in the lives of Finny, Gene, and Leper. The source of their disillusionment stemmed from their dreams, ideas, and hopes that were never realized. Disillusionment is a natural and crucial part of life since there it allows us to learn new things and discover new ideas. Every experience teaches us something new and helps us progress as people. The most important aspect of this book is disillusionment because, as George Santayana said, “Wisdom comes from disillusionment..”