[Updated] A Separate Peace Trigger Warning List

Hi, everyone! This was actually posted last Friday, but I just realized that I titled it wrong, and when I went to change it, the post's format was messed up as usual, so here it is again. It's literally the exact same, it just has a different title. My apologies.

Also, since it was already posted and I don't want to change the posting schedule for the rest of the posts, I'll be posting this now, instead of waiting for a Friday like I have been for the rest of the updated lists.

[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, alcohol, suicide, injury, racism, drugs, sexual content, derogatory language toward women, homophobic language, and violence.

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:

• In paragraph 21 (14) of chapter 1, the word crazy is used.
• In paragraph 13 (36) of chapter 3, the word idiot is used.
• The word maimed is used in paragraphs 46, 47, and 49 (79) of chapter 6.
• In paragraph 49 (79) of chapter 6, Gene’s internal dialogue mentions that he’s glad he’s not a cripple.
• In paragraphs 76 (83), 88 (84), and 93 of chapter 6, the word crazy is used.
• In paragraph 10 (88) of chapter 7, the words nutty and crazy are used.
• In paragraphs 9 (104) and 12 (105) of chapter 8, the word invalid is used.
• In paragraph 15 (106) of chapter 8, the word cripple is used.
• In paragraph 47 (108) of chapter 8, the word nutty is used.
• In paragraphs 100 (116) and 101 of chapter 8, the phrase “Funny Farm” is used in reference to psychiatric hospitals.
• In paragraph 57 (160) of chapter 11, the word cripple is used.
• In paragraphs 83 and 86 (163) of chapter 11, the word crazy is used.
• In paragraph 151 (170) of chapter 11, the word nutty is used.
• In paragraph 163 (171) of chapter 11, the word dumb is used.
• In paragraphs 26 (185) and 58 (191) of chapter 12, the word crazy is used.
• In paragraph 33 (187) of chapter 12, the word psycho is used.
• In paragraph 41 (201) of chapter 13, the word stupid is used.
• In paragraph 44 (202) of chapter 13, the word crazy is used.

Chapter 10 is particularly bad when it comes to ableist language:

• In paragraph 34 (143) the word mad is used.
• In paragraphs 34 (143), 45 (145), 49, and 77 (150) the word crazy is used.
• In paragraphs 33 (143), 34 (144), 35, 38, 55 (147), 71 (149), and 77 (150) the word psycho is used.
• In paragraphs 45 (145) and 53 (146) the word stupid is used.
• In paragraph 46 (145), the word cripple is used.

Death

Death is mentioned a variety of times in the book, from brief allusions to actual deaths. The instances I noted are as follows:

• In paragraph 19 (14) of chapter 1, death is mentioned in a quote.
• The possibility of death is mentioned in paragraph 58 (32) of chapter 2 and again in paragraph 1 (33) of chapter 3.

• In paragraph 43 (41) of chapter 3, the death of Mussolini is briefly mentioned and includes a rather gory mental image.
• In paragraph 44 (42) of chapter 4, there is a brief mention of being killed.
• In paragraph 1 (49) of chapter 5, a character is said to look dead rather than asleep.
• In paragraphs 72 (70) and 73 of chapter 5, there is talk of killing.
• In paragraph 93 (84) of chapter 6, there is a brief mention of death and military fighting.
• In paragraphs 25 (89) and 26 of chapter 7, there are mentions of killing someone.
• In paragraph 2 (139) of chapter 10, there is a brief mention of being killed in the war.
• In paragraph 78 (162) of chapter 11, there is a mention of being killed in a quote from “Caesar.”
• In paragraph 103 (166) of chapter 11, there is a brief mention of dead ex-headmasters.
• In paragraph 179 (174) of chapter 11, there is a use of death as a simile.
• In paragraph 34 (188) of chapter 12, there is a mention of death in reference to the military and the war.

• In paragraph 65 (193) of chapter 12, a character dies from a piece of bone marrow blocking his arteries. This is mentioned several more times over the rest of the book.
• In paragraph 37 (200) of chapter 13, there is a mention of being killed.
• In paragraph 51 (204) of chapter 13, there is a mention of killing.

Alcohol

There are mentions of alcohol or being drunk in the following paragraphs:

• Paragraph 73 (48) of chapter 3.
• Paragraphs 94 (115) and 96 of chapter 8.
• Paragraphs 40 (131), 41, 44 (33), 45, 55 (134), 56, 58 (135), 61, 63, and 64 (136) of chapter 9.
• Paragraph 172 (173) of chapter 11.

Suicide

Most references to suicide in the book are about the “suicide society” that Gene and Finny create. This is mentioned in:

• Paragraphs 53 (31) through 57 of chapter 2.
• Paragraphs 2 (33) and 4 (34) of chapter 3.
• Paragraphs 11 (51), 33 (53), and 42 (56) of chapter 4.
• Paragraph 44 (79) of chapter 6.

Suicide is mentioned in different context in the following paragraphs:

• Paragraph 74 (48) of chapter 3.
• Paragraph 29 (52) of chapter 4.
• Paragraph 2 (139) of chapter 10.

Injury

There are a few injuries in this book, and some discussions of said injuries.

• In paragraph 74 (60) of chapter 4, Phineas falls out of a tree and breaks his leg.
• In paragraphs 11 (63), 13, and 16 of chapter 5, the doctor and Gene discuss the break.
• In paragraph 77 (150) of chapter 10, there is a mention of amputation and a cut off limb.
• In paragraph 209 (177) of chapter 11, Phineas falls and breaks his leg again.

Racism

There wasn’t much “traditional” racism in this book, but I did note several uses of the word gypsy. For those who are unaware, the word gypsy is a slur against the Romani people. There are several different interpretations of the word and why its bad, but as a rule, don’t use it. The uses in this book are in the following paragraphs:

• Paragraphs 6 (74), 10 (75), and 44 (79) of chapter 6.
• Paragraph 17 (197) of chapter 13.

Drugs

The use of drugs in this book is related to surgery and injuries. The places I noted are:

• In paragraphs 23 (65) and 36 (66) of chapter 5 there are mentions of Phineas being on drugs.
• The use of anaesthesia is mentioned in paragraph 60 (191) of chapter 12.

Sexual content

There is no real explicit sexual content in the book, its most just allusions, but the instances that I noted are:

• 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.

Derogatory Language Toward Women

Being an all-boys school with not many female characters, there wasn’t as much sexism as you might expect from a book of this time period.

• In paragraph 46 (79) of chapter 6, the word bitch is used in the term “son of a bitch.”

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).

Violence

In paragraphs 47 (79) and 48 of chapter 6, there is a physical fight.

Love Always,

Sam

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