<p>**Prompt: Should people make more of an effort to keep some things private? **</p>
<p>Maintaining privacy is crucial in protecting the individual and those that surround him or her. Several examples from classic literature lucidly demonstrate that preserving self-privacy shields others from severe harm. </p>
<p>In John Knowles’ classic novel A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester damages his beloved friend Phineas immensely by informing him of clandestine events. Phineas was a bright and young athlete, who had an elegant future ahead of him. However, a physical accident of him falling off a tree resulted in his physical disabilities, which would plague Phineas for the rest of his life. The accident, which destroys Phineas physically and emotionally, is only exacerbated when Gene Forrester admits that he was the individual who pushed him off the tree. Phineas, unable to comprehend and accept the fact that his own best friend was the perpetrator of such an incident, is overwhelmed and dies of emotional distraught. Phineas would not have suffered such a great deal of emotional torture if it were not for his best friend’s telling of the truth. If Gene had just kept such matters private, he would have saved Phineas from this maudlin infliction. Thus,A Separate Peace proves that perpetuating privacy in certain matters will only shield others from the sorrow and disbelief which should never have been inflicted.</p>
<p>Throughout the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, a vivacious student at Pency Prep, divulges his private opinions regarding others to his fellow classmates. Holden directly informs the truth about his classmates, explicitly stating their ostensible flaws. Despite Holden’s efforts at being candid, many of his comrades are pierced emotionally by his unneeded truths, and they resent him. As a result, Holden’s truth and destruction of self-privacy is detrimental to both the others around him, and also himself. If Holden had preserved his own privacy and kept his own opinions to himself, he would have saved his classmates and himself from emotional infliction. Thus, the events in The Catcher in the Rye prove that privacy is key to the protection of individuals that surround oneself. </p>
<p>After carefully analyzing the events of A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye, one can now see that the preservation of privacy is indeed crucial to the protection of the individuals which surround him or her. When such privacy is broken, others or harmed or even killed. Maintaining privacy is the only way to prevent such detriments.</p>