Leper was written off as crazy in the service which highlights the irony in his statement “always were a savage underneath” aimed at Gene because that’s how the military viewed Leper. Leper is explaining the weight of a section 8 discharge to Gene when he says, “the kind of expression you’ve got on your face, like you were looking at someone with their nose blown off but don’t want them to know you’re disgusted.” (Knowles 144) Leper says this before he reveals that he knows Gene pushed Finny off of the branch on purpose. He is talking to directly to Gene, “the kind of expression you’ve got on your face,” referring to the look of disgust on Gene’s face. Leper is hinting at Gene’s complete apathy to his situation, mostly due to the fact that Gene is scared about what his experience with the war will be like. Gene is also afraid of Leper and how much he realized while he was in the army. Leper contacted Gene when he was first sent home from the army because he needed Gene to be the good friend that Leper knew him to be, and to be there to support him while he’s dealing with his section 8 discharge. Instead, Gene turns his back on his friend because it’s too much for him to handle so he runs away from his problems for a second time. Thus proving that he “always [was] a savage underneath” because he’s too focused on himself to stop and help out the people around him who are depending on him.
I agree with Madison that Gene is afraid of the new and changed Leper. This new Leper is bitter and fearful. The army has broken him, and Leper has realized a lot about himself and Gene. Declaring that Gene "always was a savage underneath" (Knowles, 145) and that he is a "psycho." Leper explains his hallucinations in the army to Gene, who runs away thinking "I don't care what happened to you...this has nothing to do with me" (Knowles, 151). Leper's problems seem to deeply disturb Gene. Hinting at his own worries; that he really is savage underneath and did intentionally harm Finny. I think that Gene is afraid of Leper, because he is afraid of the truth about himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Madison and Cordelia have said about Leper and Gene. I also think that it scares Gene that Leper has changed so much. Before this, the war was something that the boys put off and Finny even believed it was fake. I think that Gene seeing that Leper has gone crazy from the war made it all seem a lot more real to him, and not something that they could ignore. After Finny saw Leper he said to Gene “Then I knew there was a real war on.” (Knowles 164) Seeing Leper after he went crazy was a turning point for the boy's view on the war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this statement is ironic because Leper got discharged for being Section 8. I think that this is also ironic because for almost the entire beginning of the book everyone thought Leper was crazy. An example of this was on page 99 where Brinker says, "That's the kind of a place I'm in with a world war going on. A school for photographers of beaver dams"(Knowles 99). So Leper saying that Gene was always a savage underneath, although being true, is also a bit hypocritical. Not because Leper too, is a savage, but because he isn't ignorant as he lets other people think.
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