When Gene arrives at Leper's house he finds that there is something different about him. "If Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it too him" (Knowles 144). Leper shows more anger and aggressiveness and has also developed a twitch in his lip. Leper brings up that he almost received a "section eight discharge." He begins to talk about how its for the psycho people and he makes a connection between the "psychos" and Gene, saying that he was always a savage underneath. He says to Gene that he knows that he pushed Finny off the tree. This enrages Gene and he attacks Leper. Gene attacks Leper because he realizes that deep down he knows that he did jounce Finny off the limb. This is the first point in the book where Gene actually is able to admit this to himself. At this point he realizes that he is actually a savage beneath. "She must have thought, 'a terrible temper, no self-control, but he's sorry and he is a good boy underneath.' Leper was closer to the truth" (Knowles 146).
I think that another reason Gene might have attacked Leper is because this is the first time he has a glimpse of the horrible reality that surrounds his sheltered life at Devon. While Gene has heard about the war through news stories on the radio and unreliable rumors passed through school, he has never been directly exposed to the horrors of the war. It never occurred to Gene, or any other members of Devon, that the life of a soldier (Leper specifically) doesn't actually consist of numerous victories and endless glory. When Leper shares his terrifying experiences about going "psycho", Gene's illusion of the war is shattered. This is the first time he hears the unbearable truth, and he doesn't like it. Not wanting to feel this sense of vulnerability, Gene tells Leper that he doesn't "want to hear every gory detail" (Knowles 151) of his incident. Even though in his everyday life Gene is fascinated by the war and is curious about it's happenings, he doesn't like it when he is finally exposed to the horrible facts that disturb his perfect image of reality.
ReplyDeleteWhile Gene physically attacks Leper, by doing this he also attacks Leper's ideas and stories. Gene becomes confused with what he thought he knew about the army, and doesn't know how to use his words because he doesn't think that Leper will hear him, and he feel violated by having Leper verbally abuse him. He doesn't know how to converse with Leper, when all Leper does is shut him down. "Well I-how am I supposed to answer that?" is what Gene says in response to one of Lepers accusing questions. Being told your basic beliefs are wrong are enough to mess with someone's mind, and once you add this to Leper bringing up that Gene pushed Finny off the tree, and it makes sense that Gene would crack and come to physical actions towards Leper.
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