The world war was huge during 1942. Students in Devon and even teachers were being drafted. Gene saw the upperclassmen going off to war again and again. This eminent future wasn’t what they all focused on. Gene distracted himself with childish thoughts, cutting classes, and jumping off trees. ”We seemed to be nothing but children playing against heroic men” (7.79). All the while not paying attention to the dark and depressing news and eminent battle ahead of them. Out of all the people Elwin ‘Leper’ Lepellier never in a million years would have thought to be the first to enlist of all his friends. Leper was a timid boy inspired to join the war by something so plain and straightforward, but it didn’t show the whole truth. He decided to join
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That person was Leper, who had left the army. When Gene went off to see Leper, he expected someone who had always been friendly, kind, and timid. When Gene arrives, however, he is rude, ranting, and malicious. His speech is disturbing and strewn with rude words, and he seems to have no filter for what he says. As Leper describes the horrid things he saw in his mind, Gene realizes that "none of this could have been said by the Leper of the beaver dam,"(), The actual Leper before the enlistment took him. Leper was unable to handle the realities of military life. His mental state had worn down to the point that the army had would have released him on a Section Eight discharge. In Leper's words, a Section Eight discharge is "for the nuts in the service, the psychos, the Funny Farm candidates."(). Gene ends up not able to handle all of these harsh realities. He can’t stand what has happened to Leper and just runs away. Gene pushes out the war once he sees what it has done to Leper forming a separate peace for himself. To form a separate peace you don’t even need to be shown the truth you can just block something out entirely. When Phineas arrives back at Devon after his previously broken leg, he starts to talk with Gene about the war. Phineas
That person was Leper, who had left the army. When Gene went off to see Leper, he expected someone who had always been friendly, kind, and timid. When Gene arrives, however, he is rude, ranting, and malicious. His speech is disturbing and strewn with rude words, and he seems to have no filter for what he says. As Leper describes the horrid things he saw in his mind, Gene realizes that "none of this could have been said by the Leper of the beaver dam,"(), The actual Leper before the enlistment took him. Leper was unable to handle the realities of military life. His mental state had worn down to the point that the army had would have released him on a Section Eight discharge. In Leper's words, a Section Eight discharge is "for the nuts in the service, the psychos, the Funny Farm candidates."(). Gene ends up not able to handle all of these harsh realities. He can’t stand what has happened to Leper and just runs away. Gene pushes out the war once he sees what it has done to Leper forming a separate peace for himself. To form a separate peace you don’t even need to be shown the truth you can just block something out entirely. When Phineas arrives back at Devon after his previously broken leg, he starts to talk with Gene about the war. Phineas