Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (Julia)
While Gene is traveling to Leper's house, he is trying to convince himself that when Leper said that he had "escaped" he meant that he escaped the enemy spies, but in reality, Leper had escaped the section eight discharge. To Leper, escaping means that he can have a future. "You can't get a job after that. Everybody wants to see your discharge, and when they see a Section Eight they look at you kind of funny--" (Knowles 144). To Leper if he excepted the Section Eight discharge, he would be demolishing his future. On his way to Leper's house, Gene is remembering all the things Brinker and Chet were saying in the Butt Room, and how Leper was some sort of war hero. To Gene, hearing the reality of what "escaped" means to Leper, his separate peace about what war was like was annihilated. The ideas that Gene and Leper each have about Leper's "escape" are very different. To Leper, his escape was being able to fulfill a purposeful life. To Gene, Leper's escape is Leper getting away from the enemy spies.
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To Leper, there is the more literal sense of escape from Section Eight in the war. He originally joined the ski troops because skiing is something he loves and he felt as though it would be his contribution to the war. It turned out that he was a psycho compared to every other soldier and he escaped from being placed in the nutty group of Section Eight. "'I escaped!' the word surging out in a voice and intensity that was not Leper’s. His face was furious, but his eyes denied the fury; instead they saw it before them. They were filled with terror” (Knowles, 143). On the other hand, Gene escaped on the more figurative sense in Devon with Finny. They created their separate peace where the war was all a conspiracy created by fat guys and they could train for the Olympics of '44.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia. Leper explained to Gene that a section 8 discharge was "for nuts in the service" (knowles 144). It meant you were dismissed from the army for being crazy or psycho. Leper also explained a section 8 discharge meant "you can't get a job [after that]...you're screwed for life" (knowles 144). After being called crazy, Leper sees it as his future being taken away. People will think and look at him differently and nobody will hire him. By running away from the war, Leper felt he had escaped all of that. He feels he will now have a chance for a real future.
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