Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Assignment 6: Part of this reading focuses on Leper. How is he characterized? What do we learn about him? Provide some specific details from the reading to support your answer. (William K.)
Leper, an introverted student in Gene’s class, has been displayed in the story as an observant naturalist who does not enjoy taking risks or going quickly. Leper’s great appreciation for the natural world causes him to have atypical hobbies, such as cross-country skiing and taking care of snails. When all of the students at Devon choose to earn money shoveling, an announcement he missed while “he… made little sketches of birds and trees in… his notebook”(93), Leper instead decides to go cross-country skiing, alone. When Gene attempts to converse with Leper, he suggests that he goes to a steep hill in order to gain momentum. After hearing this, leper explains that if he went there, he would not be able “to see the trees”(95). This desire to slowly take in nature is in contrast to other students, such as Finny who chooses to race past the beauty. Another aspect that is so dissimilar from Finny is his unlikelihood to risks. This is shown when he does not want to jump out of the tree, and when we doesn’t accept the ball in Blitzball. His quiet complexion, not suited to war, will most likely cause him a lot of angst as he gets closer to being drafted.
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I think that Leper's contrast to Blinker Hadley is also important. While Leper comes back from skiing and talks about the beaver dam that he found, Blinker seems infuriated by him. He says "'Everybody in this place is either a draft-dodging Kraut or a... a... ' the scornful force of his tone turned the word into a curse, 'a nat-u-ral-ist!'" (Knowles, 100). Leper takes time to look at the small things, and appreciate the snow and the beaver dam, because he wants to enjoy the details in life. However, the other boys have been laboring all day to get the soldiers out of the snow. Blinker sees Leper as idle, and not doing his part for the war effort. He is furious, because he thinks that Leper does not understand the importance of patriotism for his country for the goal of winning the war. He also thinks that it is time for people to step out of the bubble that Devon provides, and accept that the war is an important aspect of 1942. Leper, on the other hand, wants to avoid thinking about war, because it takes away his joy. Blinker and Leper have very different perspectives on the war.
ReplyDeleteLeper shows characteristics that we have not seen thus far in the book. Like Will said, Leper is more of an introvert and prefers to keep to himself. In this reading, we see him go touring on his skis around the outskirts of Devon. It seems, that Leper is more focused on observing the beauty of nature than focusing on the darkness of the war. Brinker Hadley doesn't understand why Leper would go skiing during the war. He says, "That's the kind of place I'm in with a world war going on. A school for photographers of beaver dams" (99). This reveals that Brinker is so composed in the war that he isn't able to understand Leper's hobbies and the beauty in them.
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