The Devon School
Encyclopedia
The Devon School is a fictional school created by author John Knowles
in the novels A Separate Peace
and Peace Breaks Out
. It is based on Knowles' alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy
. Like Phillips Exeter during World War II
, Devon is a boys' boarding school in New Hampshire
. Knowles places the school in a town that bears its name, specifically at the head of a quaint residential street called Gilman Street. The school "emerged naturally from the town which had produced it." A Separate Peace covers the summer of 1942 and the Winter Session of 1942-1943. The senior year students are being prepared for the war. The timeframe in Peace Breaks Out is 1946-1947. In both of these books, Devon is portrayed as a boys' preparatory school
, just as Phillips Exeter was at the time; although Phillips Exeter is today a co-educational school. The Devon School is one of the most prominent fictional examples of a total institution
.
and similar Latin
inscription over the entrance. The First Academy Building, the Georgian
red brick dormitories, and the Gothic
-style chapel, form a quadrangle
around the Center Common. There is then a group of Colonial
houses for the Dean
, the Headmaster, and other faculty members, along an old London-style lane leading from the dormitories to the Naguamsett River and the Crew House. Progressing in another direction, past the Field House (or "The Cage") the Center Common opens onto the Playing Fields, with tennis
courts on the left, the Devon Woods on the right, and enormous open grounds for playing football
, lacrosse
and soccer. Directly ahead, far across the Playing Fields, is the stadium (which envelops the swimming pool), the Devon River and the climactic
tree that is the basis for a very crucial part of the plot. Beyond all that, Knowles names the excess wilderness as the Fields Beyond.
The town of Devon, as described by Knowles, is of course very similar to the real-life Exeter, New Hampshire
and the Devon River and the Naguamsett River are based on the Exeter River
and the Squamscott River
. Exactly like its real-life basis, the fresh-water Devon River eventually falls into the tidal Naguamsett, a marshy, mud-banked saline body of water that eventually connected to the ocean. The two rivers were separated by a dam and a small waterfall.
John Knowles
John Knowles was an American novelist best known for his novel A Separate Peace. He died in 2001 at the age of seventy-five.-Early life:...
in the novels A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work.-Plot summary:...
and Peace Breaks Out
Peace Breaks Out
Peace Breaks Out is a novel by American author John Knowles, better known for A Separate Peace . The books share the setting of the Devon preparatory school, probably a reference to Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, which Knowles attended in his youth.-Plot introduction:This book...
. It is based on Knowles' alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
. Like Phillips Exeter during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Devon is a boys' boarding school in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Knowles places the school in a town that bears its name, specifically at the head of a quaint residential street called Gilman Street. The school "emerged naturally from the town which had produced it." A Separate Peace covers the summer of 1942 and the Winter Session of 1942-1943. The senior year students are being prepared for the war. The timeframe in Peace Breaks Out is 1946-1947. In both of these books, Devon is portrayed as a boys' preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
, just as Phillips Exeter was at the time; although Phillips Exeter is today a co-educational school. The Devon School is one of the most prominent fictional examples of a total institution
Total institution
A total institution is place of work and residence where a great number of similarly situated people, cut off from the wider community for a considerable time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life...
.
Description
The approach from Gilman Street gradually gives way to the Far Common, a leafy, manicured expanse of ground that proceeds the First Academy Building, which Knowles derives almost entirely from the Academy Building at Phillips Exeter, having the same cupolaCupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
and similar Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription over the entrance. The First Academy Building, the Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
red brick dormitories, and the Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
-style chapel, form a quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
around the Center Common. There is then a group of Colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
houses for the Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
, the Headmaster, and other faculty members, along an old London-style lane leading from the dormitories to the Naguamsett River and the Crew House. Progressing in another direction, past the Field House (or "The Cage") the Center Common opens onto the Playing Fields, with tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts on the left, the Devon Woods on the right, and enormous open grounds for playing football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and soccer. Directly ahead, far across the Playing Fields, is the stadium (which envelops the swimming pool), the Devon River and the climactic
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
tree that is the basis for a very crucial part of the plot. Beyond all that, Knowles names the excess wilderness as the Fields Beyond.
The town of Devon, as described by Knowles, is of course very similar to the real-life Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
and the Devon River and the Naguamsett River are based on the Exeter River
Exeter River
The Exeter River is a -long river located in Rockingham County in southeastern New Hampshire, the United States.It rises in the town of Chester, southeast of Manchester. It follows a winding course east and northeast to Exeter, where it becomes the Squamscott River, a tidal river leading north to...
and the Squamscott River
Squamscott River
The Squamscott River is a tidal river in Rockingham County, southeastern New Hampshire, in the United States. It rises at Exeter, fed by the Exeter River...
. Exactly like its real-life basis, the fresh-water Devon River eventually falls into the tidal Naguamsett, a marshy, mud-banked saline body of water that eventually connected to the ocean. The two rivers were separated by a dam and a small waterfall.
Dormitories
- Pembroke House (with the basement-level 'Butt Room,' for smoking)
- Veazy Hall
- Saltonstall Hall
Faculty, A Separate Peace
- Mr. Prud'homme - substitute for the Summer Session
- Mr. Patch-Withers - substitute Headmaster for summer 1942
- Mr. Ludsbury - a Winter Session master who is in charge of one of the dormitories (like a housemasterHousemasterIn British education, a housemaster is a member of staff in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school . The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care of boarders in the house and typically lives on the premises...
at a British public school) - Dr. Stanpole - who also appears in Peace Breaks Out, is the infirmary doctor
- Mr. Carhart
- Mr. Horn - LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
master - Phil Latham - the wrestlingWrestlingWrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
coach
Students, A Separate Peace
- Gene Forrester - the first-person narrative character, the protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
/antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of A Separate PeaceA Separate PeaceA Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work.-Plot summary:... - Phineas "Finny" - Gene's roommate, best friend and the victim of the plot's tragedy
- Brinker Hadley (possibly based on or inspired to some degree by Knowles' Exeter classmate Gore VidalGore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
) accused Gene of making Finny fall - Elwin "Leper" Lepellier - the eccentric witness to the plot's tragedy; enlisted into the army and went AWOL
- Chet Douglass - Gene's brightest academic competition and the trumpet player
- Bobby Zane
- Brownie Perkins - Brinker Hadley's antisocial roommate during the Winter Session
- Cliff Quackenbush - manager of the school rowingRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
crew
Faculty, Peace Breaks Out
- Peter Hallam - an alumnusAlumnusAn alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
from the Class of 1937, the main character of the story, and who returns to teach Physical EducationPhysical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
and American History after serving in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... - Roscoe Bannerman Latch - head of the Latin department
- Dr. Wherry - the Headmaster
Students, Peace Breaks Out (Class of 1946)
- Cotty Donaldson - captain of the football team, president of the senior class
- Perkins
- Wexford
- Nicholas "Nick" Blackburn
- Tug Blackburn
- Eric Hochschwender
- Ernie Manero
- Rob Willis
- Gene DelliGatti
- Parker
- Sol Abrahamson
- Peavy Pierson
- Billy Carruthers