A Separate Peace Leper Character Analysis

In the beginning of the novel, Leper is very non confrontational and timid. For instance, “Leper closed his mouth as though forever. He didn’t argue or refuse. He didn’t back away. He became inanimate.” When his classmates ar dangerously jumping from a tree, Leper does not join them. In addition, “…Leper looked up in anguish, shrank away from the ball, and voiced his first thought, a typical one. ‘I don’t want it!’ (Knowles 39). When passed the ball in a game, Leper , who is not competitive, refuses the ball. This timid nature dramatically changes after Leper returns from training. He confronts his friend Gene. “It’s you we happen to be talking about now. Like a savage underneath. Like,’ now there was the blind confusion in his eyes again, a wild slyness around his mouth, ‘Like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree” (Knowles 145), something that would have been too daunting and intimidating for Leper to before. Leper also testified against Gene in their class court, “Leper entered ahead of the other two. He looked unusually well; his face glowing , his eyes were bright, his manner was all energy. ‘Yes?’ he said in a clear voice, resonant even in this room, ‘What can I do for you? He made this confident remark almost but not quite to Phineas...Finny muttered something which was too indecisive for Leper, who turned with a clearly energetic gesture toward Brinker” (Knowles 173). In the end, this new confident and bold nature shows that Leper’s character has changed

The war is a symbol of how things aren’t always what they seem. Recruiting posters and propaganda advertising the army convince many boys into thinking the war is an exciting adventure in which young men interact. Leper enlists in the army after being impressed by a film shown by a recruiter from the U.S. ski troops. "The ski movie had decided him. ‘I always thought the war would come for me when it wanted me…I never thought I’d be going to it. I’m really glad I saw that movie in time, you bet I am’" (826) Leper is amazed by these men and how they, with their recognizable and friendly faces, give a clean response to

Leper, who seemed to be the most untouched by the war, is the first to enlist, showing that the war has reached into the deepest part of Devon and dragged the most unlikely candidate out into war, bringing the fear of adulthood right to the boys, showing how potent the war is. Although Leper thinks he is ready to enlist, deep inside he is scared and truly is not ready for war or adulthood. This quote represent all the boys in Devon who are not yet ready to enter adulthood, but are pushed into it because of

The other characters thought that Finny had no fears, as if he was a free bird that soared over the beautiful oceans without a thought bad thought ever to enter his mind. In reality every human has fear, has hate, but some people are better at hiding these feelings. In the end, the person that was pure, and innocent died while the greedy lived. Ironically Finny’s death wouldn’t have happened in the first place if Gene didn’t shake the limb, one small thing always leads to a larger a greater thing. So clearly the thought of Finny was misleading, though he was innocent he still had feelings like everyone

In today’s society, people have varying personality traits that continuously affect their actions and decisions. In a Separate Peace, Gene starts to become jealous of his friend Finny. In Gene’s eyes, Finny has it all. He is athletic, witty, confident, everyone loves him and he always seems to get his way. But the one thing he doesn't have is an academic brain. He is an average C student and that seems to be the only thing he isn’t good at. Gene on the other hand, is very smart and is in the running for valedictorian of their class. While the two boys don’t have much in common, their differing personalities balance each other out and they get along just fine, or so it seems. One noticeable thing that Finny has that Gene lacks in confidence. Due to this, their

To describe Finny, from a Separate Peace, in one word, I would say he’s bewildered. He’s confused and is trying to find ways to block out maliciousness in the world. Finny is ignoring reality to have fun and stay away from everything in the real world. To stay away from reality, Finny goes to places where he can relax and one of those places was the beach. When he went to the beach with Gene, he was very calm and was escaping from the war. On page 47, Gene describes how Finny… “enjoyed himself hugely, he laughed outloud at passing seagulls.” This quote from the book describes how, when Finny was at the beach, he didn’t have a care in the world. He did things that he normally wouldn’t do at Devon or around his other friends. This explains how

Leper, towards the beginning of the novel, is a nature-lover, skier and timid. He is almost, in a sense, ignorant of the war. Instead of assisting in the war effort by clearing snow of the railroad, he decides to go “touring the countryside”. He explains what he likes to do while skiing in this quote “You never get to really look at the trees, at a tree. I just like to go along and see what I'm passing and enjoy myself.” After watching a video on the “ski troops”, he decides to be the first to enlist in the military in his class. After his rather short time in the military, Gene receives a letter from him to meet him at the . He describes his weird visions of seeing faces and tells Gene that he has received a Section Eight discharge from the

Experiencing Finny’s death was an odd experience. Throughout my time at Devon, Phineas had become a major part of me; a part of me died the day that he passed away. His funeral was an odd sensation. It was unnatural in the way that part of me was gone that day, too. Finny helped to lighten everybody’s spirits at Devon and took our minds off of the war that was at hand. He was care-free and had no enemies, but very few were able to follow his example. Unlike Phineas, I created foolish rivalries at Devon which had awful

As per the ancient saying, experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it. In this book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the protagonist Gene Forrester visits the prep school he attended when he was younger -- The Devon School. As he wanders through the campus to find a tree, he goes into a flashback to when he was sixteen. In the picture, there’s Phineas (Finny), the super athlete, who also happens to be the roommate of Gene, and Elwin Lepellier, sadly given the nickname “Leper.” Finny declares they should jump out of the tree; Gene obeys but no one else does. This episode introduces us to their quasi-friendship, which you know, was just fine until Gene decides to go all whacky on his best friend. John Knowles uses Gene’s explanation of causing Finny to fall, the death of Finny, and Leper’s eventual insanity to show that living in a state of innocence can destroy an individual.

A Separate Peace states, “The more things remain the same, the more they change. Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even death by violence.” I agree that everything changes the more it remains the same. A tree will die or get sick if it does not change with the weather. A person will become an outcast and be labeled as “freaky” if they do not change with the trends.

Throughout the novel Gene is found following Finny blindly like a little dog, depending on him entirely. Later in the book Gene finds himself pushing Finny off a tree. This rash decision was made when Gene had a misconceived thought that Finny was trying sabotage his studies. This scene was seen as an accident to Finny and other friends watching, due to the fact they were trying to jump into a river. After this scene Finny left school for recovery. Gene starts to lose his identity from here considering that Finny is all he can think about. Finny returns back to school for a short period but then leaves again since he tripped on a staircase and broke a bone. This injury required a surgery. During the operation a shard of the broken bone entered and blocked the blood flow which caused Finny to pass away. This is when Finny's death consumes Gene’s identity.

In life and in history you have to make challenging decisions. If you make the wrong decision it can affect you. History and aren’t supposed to be simple, you will have both the ups and the downs in life. In life, you have to persevere through those times, because they will often happen. History, is the same way when countries were in war they had to preserve.

Coming into Assembly Hall, “Leper entered ahead of the other two. He looked unusually well; his face was glowing, his eyes were bright, his manner was all energy. ‘Yes?’ he said in a clear voice, resonant even in this room, ‘what can I do for you?’ He made this confident remark... [and] turned with a cleanly energetic gesture toward Brinker” (173). Leper’s description is almost the exact opposite of how he would be described in the beginning of the book, “glowing,” “bright,” and “energetic.” He may have internally held these qualities, but Leper never gave off this impression before when he was around people, as he was always focusing on solely what was going on inside his active mind. Moreover, by speaking in a “clear voice” and acting very “confident,” Leper is showing that he can interact with others in a way that a sane, normal person would. At this point in the story, Leper has gone through the war experience, and he recognizes that he can no longer have faith in himself to completely disregard his outer environment, and because he depends on his external position to give him internal peacefulness, he seeks acceptance from his peers so that he can have harmony around him and can be congruous with those around

Elie Wiesel said, “Every moment counts. Every second matters.” This shows that every opportunity one has potential and it’s important to take chances. Even though one may be let down, one can overcome that moment in the past and make it better. For example, living a life in the Holocaust can change a life forever. Making the best out of what one had to live through and try to make the future a better place for everyone else. With peace, Elie Wiesel with his acts was able to change the future and help recover what was once lost in the Holocaust.

2. “Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person “the world today” or “life” or “reality” he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.”