In what way are Macbeth and A Separate Peace similar?Im writing an essay about how conflict can help in the development of theme. The theme that I...

Deception does function in each of these stories, but the
resulting themes are different. Macbeth (and Lady Macbeth) deceives everyone (except the
witches) in efforts to gain and then sustain power. Their deception is motivated by
greed and later their fear and guilt are what motivates them to continue that
deception.

Gene’s deception of Finny, and everyone else, is
less conspiring. When he pushes Finny off the branch, it is a conscious and subconscious
event. Gene continues the deception for reasons similar to Macbeth. He is afraid of
getting caught and he feels guilty about it.

With
Macbeth, the deception is motivated and sustained for sinister
reasons: greed, power, fear and guilt. In A Separate Peace, Gene is
motivated by jealousy and maybe even teenage anxiety. His deception is clearly less
sinister than Macbeth’s. Gene later discovers that he is not jealous of Finny’s power
and self-confidence. He is jealous of Finny’s innocence. Gene is annoyed that Finny
won’t grow up and acknowledge the war. I’m not saying we should give Gene a pass on his
transgressions. But if you’re comparing Gene and Macbeth, with regard to deception, you
have to note that Gene is dealing with a natural resistance to the harsh reality of
adulthood and Macbeth is dealing with an infatuation with power.