A Separate Peace Trigger Warnings

I'm back! Well, I technically wasn't ever gone, but I did forget to continue to post for a while. I finished the trigger warning list for A Separate Peace by John Knowles about 3 weeks ago, though its somewhat tentative, since I'm almost positive that I missed things, meaning that I need to go back an reread it to check. So keep an eye out for those edits, but this should cover the majority of the content that needs warning.

[Important: Please note that trigger warnings are not necessarily to make it so that you can just avoid the content. There is a fairly popular mistaken belief that trigger warnings are censorship. That is not true. Trigger warnings exist so that, if you are sensitive to the content, you are made aware of it before it occurs and surprises you. This gives you a chance to prepare yourself mentally before reading it so that it does not affect you as negatively as it might if you didn’t know that it was going to happen. Also, please note that if you rely on triggers for the shock-value or plot twists (aka, “Well I can’t use trigger warnings because they’re spoilers!”), you aren’t a very good writer and you definitely aren’t taking into consideration the potential sensitivity of your audience.]

Triggers, listed in order of the number of occurrences: ableist language, death, injury, sexual content, and homophobic language.

The paragraph numbers and a general summary of each are listed on the following pages. For reference, the italicized numbers in the parenthesis are the page numbers in my book, and the total number of paragraphs in each chapter are listed below:

Chapter 1 - 48
Chapter 2 - 58
Chapter 3 - 74
Chapter 4 - 74
Chapter 5 - 83
Chapter 6 - 94
Chapter 7 - 123
Chapter 8 - 145
Chapter 9 - 67
Chapter 10 - 82
Chapter 11 - 209
Chapter 12 - 70
Chapter 13 - 54

Ableist Language
Ableist language is language that harms disabled people and includes, but is not limited to, the words cripple, crazy, psycho, and stupid.

The instances that I noted in this book are as follows:
  • The word maimed is used in paragraphs 46, 47, and 49 (79) of chapter 6 as an insult, a descriptor, and a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 49 (79) of chapter 6, Gene’s internal dialogue mentions that he’s glad he’s not a cripple.
  • In paragraph 57 (160) of chapter 11, the word cripple is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraphs 83 and 86 (163) of chapter 11, the word crazy is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 33 (187) of chapter 12, the word psycho is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 58 (191) of chapter 12, the word crazy is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 44 (202) of chapter 13, the word crazy is used as a descriptor.
Chapter 10 is particularly bad when it comes to ableist language:
  • In paragraph 33 (143), the word psycho is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 34 (143), the words crazy, mad, and psycho (144) are used as descriptors.
  • In paragraphs 35 and 38 (144), the word psycho is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 45 (145), the words crazy and stupid are used as an insult.
  • In paragraph 46 (145), the word cripple is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 49 (145), the word crazy is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 53 (146), the word stupid is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 55 (147), the word psycho is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 71 (149), the word psycho is used as a descriptor.
  • In paragraph 77 (150), the words psycho and crazy are used as descriptors.


Death
In paragraph 19 (14) of chapter 1, death is mentioned in the quote, “Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.”

In paragraph 43 (41) of chapter 3, the death of Mussolini is briefly mentioned and includes a rather gory mental image.

In paragraph 65 (193) of chapter 12, Phineas dies from a piece of bone marrow blocking his arteries. This is mentioned several more times over the rest of the book.


Injury
In paragraph 74 (60) of chapter 4, Phineas falls out of a tree and breaks his leg.

In paragraph 209 (177) of chapter 11, Phineas falls and breaks his leg again.


Sexual content
In paragraph 5 (23) of chapter 2, Phineas briefly mentions not wanting to think about his parents sexual lives too much.

In paragraph 34 (90) of chapter 7, Gene goes on a long-winded rant of implausibility to detract from his culpability in Phineas’ accident, during which he mentions making love to Phineas’s sister.

Homophobic Language
In paragraphs 15 (24) and 16 (25) of chapter 2, the word fairy is used (the word fairy used to be commonly used as an insult toward gay men).


Up next: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (it should be up in the next few days, as I just finished it yesterday)

A Note for Teachers or Librarians: If you want to distribute these lists to your students or have them available to patrons, I can format the text into a singular sheet of paper--either as a flyer or a tri-fold brochure. Let me know if you want that, my rates are variable and low, as I don't want to create a paywall to accessibility.

Love Always,
Sam

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