The notion of freedom arose in the Athenian Empire, under the leadership of Pericles at the end of the 5th century BC, through democracy – civic freedom. After centuries of tyrannical rule, people were quick to accept the ideology of democracy: the ability of everyone to control how they are governed. Furthermore, people coveted not only civic freedom but also all facets of freedom (economic freedom, religious freedom, personal freedom, etc.) for Libertas Perfundet Omnia Luce, freedom will flood all things with light. Centuries later, the concept of freedom became more widespread. in the life of every living soul; people have been seduced by the search for freedom, believing themselves to be confined to their lives or their environment. This quest for freedom has been reflected in literature for centuries: most protagonists have tried to escape the confinement of their environment and most have succeeded. Three renowned literary works – James Joyce's Dubliners, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and John Knowles' A Separate Peace – successfully challenged the notion of escape from confinement; Joyce, Knowles and Conrad erased this literary fantasy and affirmed the terrible truth of the reality of life: a person will always feel confined, even if they manage to escape. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is a crucial work of literature. to understand American coming-of-age fiction; it reveals the chronicles of attempts to preserve youth by escaping the adult world: the events of A Separate Peace took place during the early years of World War II – a period when wide-eyed young children were conscripted into the army and exposed to war. adulthood prematurely; the pro...... middle of paper ...... betrayal, is emphasized when Gene compares the sport to war: “the football players were determined to crush each other's lives... the boxers fought to the death…a tennis ball can turn into a ball” (84). Before the incident, sport was a source of liberation for Finny and Gene from World War II. Comparing sport to war shows that this source of liberation has been taken away from them in the new war. The new war confined them and ended any possibility of escape, making it crueler than World War II. By the end of A Separate Peace, readers do not fail to recognize Finny and Gene's failure to secure freedom; although they managed to escape World War II, they were trapped in another war. Through the failure of his protagonists, Knowles asserts that there is no escape, because people will always be confined to their environments or situations..