Chapter 10: Why might the mention of Brinker trigger Leper’s violent reaction? Think about what you know about role so far.

The reason that Leper broke down into sobs when Gene brought up Brinker's head on a woman's body was because the idea went against the idealistic views that Leper has in his head. It reminded him of an incident in the army that ended up getting him discharged for a mental illness. The same mind that always appreciated the perfection in trees and beaver dams couldn't handle such a backwards thought as a mans head on a woman's body, so he just broke down. This was the reason that Leper couldn't handle being in the army. Once he starteed realizing that war is not all just skiing around, and that there are some harsh realities that one has to face, he says "Everything began to be inside out." (P. 150). He begins wondering "Am I [psycho], though, or is it the army?" (P. 150), which shows that he's questioning the army's diagnosis of him.

I think the reason Leper saw weird things in the army, and not at Devon, is because he was comfortable at Devon. When he went to the army, everything became tougher and more stressful than back at Devon, and that made him nervous. This nervousness made him imagine things, which made him more nervous, completing a vicious circle. In the end, he had a series of big hallucinations, which he handled by screaming as loud as he could, and thats what got him kicked out of the army. Do you think leaving the army was best for Leper? Do you think that if Leper returns to Devon, he'll stop hallucinating?