A Separate Peace 673unconscious. This type is less a stock colonial figure
than a living embodiment of the wisdom of the
Ramayana, the Dhamapada, and other Indian epics
that symbolize the Eastern quest for enlightenment.
His very presence in the novel evokes a tradition
outside of history (and certainly the British Raj),
speaking in a language ridiculous to some, incom-
prehensible to others, but utterly transformative to a
select few—including Kim.
His outsider status as a Buddhist also comple-
ments Kim, whose quest is complicated by his own
racial and national uncertainty. Not surprisingly, the
lama recognizes this “otherness” and immediately
dubs him his chela, a spiritual aide on his quest to
enlightenment. This becomes clear in chapter 9,
when the lama tells Kim a jataka, or fable, con-
cerning one of the Buddha’s previous incarnations.
The fable concerns an elephant captured by a king
and fitted with a tremendous leg iron. None of his
brother elephants can remove the leg iron, so the
elephant abandons himself to rage and despair. Yet
one day he discovers an abandoned calf in danger of
being trampled by the herd; the elephant protects
and nurses the foundling for 35 years, all the while
enduring the pain of the leg iron. When the calf is
grown, it notices the leg iron and asks what it is.
When the elephant explains, the foundling dashes
the iron in a single blow of his trunk. The lama
moralizes this tale by explaining: “the elephant was
Ananda, and the Calf that broke the ring was none
other than The Lord himself.” On its most immedi-
ate level, the fable explains the relationship between
the lama and Kim. The lama, who lives in the world
of epics, sees Kim as yet another incarnation of The
Lord, and himself, Ananda. By rescuing this poor
calf, in danger of being crushed by the Wheel of
Existence, he will reveal Kim’s true nature as chela
and guardian. Of course, the fable functions on a
more symbolic level as well: India can be seen as
the elephant, held fast by the empire’s chains. To
free herself (the fable suggests), India must not look
to the kings, or the children of kings, but to her
orphans—children like Kim, born of two worlds,
without clear distinctions of race or caste.
Though Kim does not “convert” to the lama’s
creed, their travels together test Kim’s faith as a
Sahib and an agent of the Game. Increasingly, he
sees India not as a world of maps and boundaries,
but as a timeless, mythic landscape. Embarking on
his second journey with the lama, Kim observes[t]he clamour of Benares, oldest of all the
earth’s cities awake before the Gods, day and
night, [beating] round the walls as the sea’s
roar round a breakwater . . . Kim watched the
stars as they rose one after another in the still,
sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot of the
altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustanee,
with never an English word . . .Coming soon after his education at St. Xavier’s,
this passage reaffirms Kim’s spiritual ties with India,
which does not speak his adopted language. Perhaps
realizing this, the lama ends the novel with the fol-
lowing prediction for Kim: “Let him be a teacher; let
him be a scribe—what matter? He will have attained
Freedom and the end. The rest is illusion.” The
implication is that Kim has found his inevitable path
on the Way, which will lead to a spiritual awakening
for himself—and quite possibly, an entire nation of
pupils. Kipling may have been unable to write this
ending, but he does give the last word to the lama,
echoing the eternal procession of sages, seekers, and
stories that color the Indian landscape.
Joshua GrassoknoWLES, joHn A Separate Peace
(1959)
John Knowles first published his award-winning
novel A Separate Peace in 1959. The novel takes
place in New Hampshire during World War II
at the fictional Devon School. The work is set up
as a frame story; an adult Gene Forrester returns
to Devon, which he attended in his youth. He
reminisces while wandering around the campus
and recounts the events of one particular summer
session and the following semesters, which make up
the bulk of the book.
The main characters in the story are the teenaged
Gene and Phineas. The teenage Gene is uptight and
academic, while “Finny” is charismatic and ath-
letic. Though polar opposites in temperament, they
become best friends and even form a “secret society”