This part of the book when Gene goes to visit Leper is a very important part in the novel. It makes the reader think about everyone's personality in the book and how it has changed since the begining. This scene made me think, as a reader, a lot about Leper and how he went from a small shy sweet boy to this furious beast after he came from the war.
Getting to the question above, Leper is now past being weird with his snail collections and beaver damns, he is "psyco"and "mad" and seems to be angry with everyone. Even though he said that the war made him this way "A section eight discharge is for the nuts in the service, the psychos, the Funny Farm canidates."
Then, Later on in the chapter Gene is talking to Leper and he flips his lid and starts yelling at Gene and telling him he was always a "savage underneath." This statement is ironic for two main reasons. First of all Leper is known as a sweet boy and as Gene said a boy who "you wouldn't think could have that much anger inside of him" so it is very ironic and odd that he would be the one to say that. The second reason why this is ironic is because Gene is not very mean and fierce, so basically Leper is telling a lie.
Lastly, this whole situation and anger that Leper is creating in general is ironic because he invited Gene, his "Best friend" to come all the way to see him, then Gene shows up and Leper yells at him the whole time. Since no person unless they were evil would do this to somebody, it must mean the Leper really is in fact, "mad." This chapter and fight was so important because it showed the significance of the reocurring theme within the book, war. It displayed how cruel war can be. How it can turn an innocent little boy into a evil monster who calls people "savages."
Questions to think about:
1) Do you really think that Leper is a psyco?
2) Do you think that Leper is right and that Gene is actually a savage (think jouncing the limb hatred for Finny?)
3) You read in the chapter that Gene said he went to war a year after he visited leper. Why do you think he does this if he saw what war can do to a person?
Sammy, you make valid points about Leper's internal conflicts and the effect it had on Gene. Leper isn't necessarily a psycho but he lacks a filter to what he says. When he talks to Gene, he exposes his raw, inner thoughts. The thing that separates Leper from his peers and the rest of the world is a social filter. The ideal example of this was when he accused Gene of being a "savage underneath (p.145)." This quote showed why Leper needed Gene to visit him. Of course Gene didn't purposely jounce Finny off the limb but he showed his vulnerability and his raw thoughts. Leper saw that he and Gene shared the one characteristic of occasionally letting their inner thoughts be exposed. As Gene ran off in the end of the chapter, it symbolized that he didn't want to be associated with the characteristic of lacking a filter on his thoughts and ideas. Leper is now alone, "telling his story into the wind."
ReplyDeleteI agree with sammy, as this reading continues it becomes more clear why Leper chose Gene to come to his house. In the passage Leper describes Gene as a savage. Leper probably thinks that because they are both "crazy" that gene will understand him better. Gene thinks otherwise, he's trying to forget about his dirty deed. But now Leper is almost pulling Gene in with him to become a team of out kasts. Gene resists and is probably heading to Finny but Finny himself is slowly staring to become an out cast.
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