In this chapter the United States ski troops came to Devon School to show a video. It showed the people skiing in the war and after the movie finished Leper was amazed. It changed his perspective about skiing and the war. He hadn’t really thought of the war and enlisting but when he saw the video it seemed nice to him so he decided to enlist. A short time later he was gone. He was the first person to enlist from Devon. They didn’t talk about it for a while until Brinker started saying what he read in papers is what Leper did.
It is ironic that Leper enlisted first into the war because throughout the past readings he doesn’t show very much interest, and all the others are talking about it and excited but not Leper. For example, when Gene was on his way to go shovel off the railroads Leper is out skiing, they started talking and its like he was in his own world. Leper is a shy, quiet person, not like Brinker, a guy who tries to impress and it’s those people who are talking about enlisting. Brinker seems strong and would be more prepared for war then Leper who doesn’t seem like the type to go. Also on their way back from shoveling they ran into Leper skiing back. He seemed excited about his skiing and liked being out in the woods with nature. He also just ignored the mean comments Brinker made. Brinker on the other hand was disappointed with the school and the people and wanted to enlist right away. Then Leper enlists, but not because he wants to go fight for his country but because he saw this video and it seemed nice and almost lovely.
How will this experience change Leper? How will it change the other characters? Do you think it will make people want to enlist or not?
Answering the second question.
ReplyDeleteIf Leper's enlistment changes anyone it will be Brinker. Brinker made fun of Leper for being a "Naturalist" while his country was at war. Brinker thought he was more mature, brave and war prepared than anyone else at Devon and so did everyone else. Then Leper, a kid that in Brinker's mind he is far superior to enlists before Brinker does. This is going to hurt Brinker's ego and reputation. People respected Brinker because he talked about enlisting and serving his country but now they are going to realize he isn't as brave as he says.
i agree with Andrew, that Leper's enlistment will surely affect Brinker, and in this chapter it seems that it does. Brinker, formerly an extremely outgoing model student, has now quit all of his academic commitments, as well as other clubs. He has started dressing sloppily, and his attitude has gotten even worse. "Frankly, I just don't see anything to celebrate, winter or spring or anything else," he said. I think that the affect of the war on Leper will be very negative. He will realize that it's not just skiing around, and he will not like it. We can tell by Leper's character earlier in the book that he does not care for the war.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question about Leper, I think that war is going to be a difficult experience for him. Leper has always been the innocent one and was usually sheltered from anything bad or harmful. Being the way that he is, Leper of course thinks that war will somehow be nice, but he is in for a surprise. I think that war will have a very bad affect on Leper and is going to upset him when he finds out that things are much worse than they appear.
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