Assignment #9: Since Leper is “section 8” (“for nuts in the service”), explore the irony of Leper’s statement “always were a savage underneath.” Take into consideration that Leper contacted Gene. Why is this important?

In this chapter, Gene travels to Vermont to visit Leper, who seems to have returned from serving in the army. However, when Gene arrives at the Christmas Location, it becomes apparent that Leper isn't the same boy he used to be. His time serving had scarred him, and his personality seemed to take a turn for the worst. Leper even informs Gene that he was about to be discharged from the army for being insane, which would impact him for the rest of his life. Eventually, during their conversation, Leper goes off on Gene and says, "You always were a savage underneath."(Knowles 145) He then goes on to exclaim that Gene had pushed Finny out of the tree, which causes Gene to respond with aggression. Leper is spot on with this accusation, as although Gene tries to put up a front as a good person, he has lots of internal conflict which causes him to act irrationally at times. For example, he performed an extremely horrible act when he pushed Finny out of the tree, which ended up robbing Finny of his passion. After the incident, he refused to admit that he was the one that caused the accident, and also seemed to care more about how the fall affected him rather than Finny. Those clearly are not signs of a person with good morals. During their conversation/argument, Leper also ends up saying Gene is "A swell guy, except when the chips are down,"(Knowles 145), which is pretty spot-on as well. The fact that Leper is the one who said all of this is pretty ironic, as Leper used to be a kind, soft-spoken person. A couple chapters ago, I would never even imagine that Leper would be the one to expose Gene's personality like this. However, the war made him a brash, anger-filled person that didn't seem to care about anyone's feelings anymore. This shows how impactful going to war was for young men like Leper, as some of them came back shattered and insane. This visit to the Christmas Location impacted Gene's interpretation of the war as well. Gene's visit to Leper gave Gene a reality check of sorts, as it showed him how terrifying and real the war was. Back in Devon, the war seemed so far away that it almost seemed nonexistent. Finny was even refuting the fact that there was any war going on at all. By inviting Gene to visit him and see the state in which the war left him, Gene was forced to acknowledge that the war was real.

What would you do if you were in Gene's situation? Do you think that Leper will be able to recover from the scar that the war left him? what do you think will happen to their friendship?