When Leper decides to enlist in the war it is a very surprising moment in the book because of what we have learned about him. Leper deciding to enlist is ironic because he is usually quiet, collects snails and spends most of his free time enjoying and interacting with nature. It didn’t seem at first as though Leper was going to enlist in the war however his turning point was the movie they saw early in January right after holiday. This movie showed what all the boys had been looking for, a friendly, happy take on the war. This movie was very misleading but Leper fails to realize that. To Leper he thinks war will be like the movie, “Skiers in white shrouds winged down virgin slopes, silent as angels…” (Knowles 124), Gene then goes on to say that, “...It was the cleanest image of war that I have ever seen,” (Knowles 124). When you think of war you never really associate it to words such as “angels” and “cheerful” and you can tell Gene and Finny know that it wasn’t realistic when Finny says, “Unless that war between them was fake too,” (Knowles 124). Finny is basically implying that this is a completely unrealistic view on war and that it is actually a lot worse. However, you have to think about Leper, he doesn’t know about war, he spends his time in nature collecting snails and minding his own business. Another part of the book which makes you question why Leper enlisted in the war is when earlier Gene says, “Leper stands out to me as the person who was most often and most emphatically taken by surprise.” Leper doesn’t understand what war is really like, he thinks its similar to the movie. This quote foreshadows that when Leper gets to the war he will be taken by surprise, and shocked by whats its truly like.
I agree with Maclin that Leper does not seem like the kind of person to enlist in the army, and that he has no idea what it is really like. I also think that Leper joins the army to escape Devon, and face reality. In the last few chapters Gene starts noticing strange things about his old friend, Leper. Leper starts collecting snails and taking in the world, and he becomes extremely isolated from his friends. When the Ski Troops recruiter arrives and shows the video, Leper says that, “It was the cleanest image of war that I have ever seen,” (Knowles 124). The main reason that the boys fear the war is because of the violence and death that they are sure awaits them, but when Leper sees the ski troops, he decides that it is his one chance to finally accept enlistment. His enlistment is not due to eagerness to fight, but more so from his inability to wait for the inevitable. It is strange and ironic that quiet Leper is the first one to face reality, and we see at the end of the chapter that no one can prepare for violence and what war holds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Maclin said about Lepers' personality. I think that Leper is viewed as a weaker character and not very brave. We get this feeling from him because he is mostly very quiet and like what Maclin said, he spends most of his time collecting snails and interacting with nature. Leper says “It was the cleanest image of war that I have ever seen,” (Knowles 124) This shows us that when Leper saw this movie he did not have much understanding about the violence and the bombings of the war, this led him to think of the war as a much more peaceful place to be. Which it really is not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maclin's depiction of Lepers almost "altered" reality. Leper seems so sweet and innocent and doesn't seem to want to do anything with the war. When seeing this video, he got excited. Knowles writes, " He had been within a few weeks of his eighteenth birthday, and with it all chance of enlistment, of choosing a service rather than being drafted into one" (125). I think in Leper's mind this seemed like the ultimate opportunity to go to war and get the best experience he could get. If he was about to be drafted anyway, why shouldn't he get to be drafted into the ski troop? By enlisting, Leper got to choose where he would be drafted and I think with this idea of war looming over everyones head, to Leper this seemed like the best way to go. Skiing sounded appealing to Leper, so he went for it. It doesn't seem like it is working out, but it shows another side of Leper's courage to be the first to go. With this move, we learned another side of Leper where he threw himself head first which almost seems ironic with his personality we knew before.
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