What do you think will happen to Leper's and Gene's friendship after this interaction? Do you think Gene should tell Finny before Leper does? What would you do if you were in Genes shoes?
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Assignment #9: Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (Julio)..
In chapter 10, Gene went over to Leper's house since he was back from being in the army. Gene had already made up his mind on what happened and why he was back before the war was over. He thought his "escaping" was referring to getting away from the spies in the army since the real enemies in Genes perspective were overseas, while to Leper there was no escaping in the army. Leper says, "The army doesn't give out passes and then say 'Come back when you've had enough, hear?' "(Knowles 143), showing how what Gene thought was the reason he was back was completely wrong and seemed to have bothered Leper. He is paranoid and feels like Gene is looking at him as if he were a psycho. What Gene didn't know was that he wasn't running away or "escaping" anything, Leper had been given a Section Eight discharge. He explains how this type of discharge is for the "nuts" in the service and that it is worse than a dishonorable discharge. That when you apply for jobs and they see a Section Eight they won't want you. Leper ends his ranting by saying he's screwed for life and goes on to blame Gene for knocking Finny out of that tree and crippling him for life while laughing and crying on the floor.
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I totally agree with Julio, Leper has began to go "nuts". In the future their friendship might not be the same as once was. Gene will definitely be more careful around Leper to make sure he doesn't snap and tell Finny that Gene pushed him out of the tree. "Hoarse, cracking sobs broke from him; another ounce of grief and he would have begun tearing his country-store clothes" (Knowles 148). This quote shows that at the time Leper is unstable and not in control of his actions and emotions. In the future Gene has to be carful Leper because he can very easily freak out and tell Finny everything.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julio that Leper has begun to go "nuts" or "psycho". In regards to how this will affect his and Gene's friendship, I believe that they will still be friends, but neither of them will really fully trust each other. After Leper reveals that he knows "that time you knocked Finny out of the tree" (Knowles 145), Gene is shocked. Though he thought it might come out eventually, this really shakes him. I think that Gene knows that their friendship will never be the same.
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