Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (see usage in context on the middle of page 143).
When Gene Forrester hears of Leper’s “escape”, he thinks of Leper and his nerved-wrecked character and naturally concludes that he has escaped from danger. What type of danger does not puzzle him one bit either, he mentions “Since Leper hadn’t been overseas the enemy must have been in his country. And the only enemies in this country would be spies” (Knowles 140). This is a great example of Gene’s very straight narrow mind. He does not consider Leper, possibly being injured, hurt, or in this case mentally unstable. When Gene arrives at Leper’s, he learns the horible truth about Leper’s Section 8 discharge. He doesn’t understand Leper during the chapter, and just when he opens up to Gene, Forrester leaves him to himself. Gene, does not seem to put himself in Leper’s skin, what would he have done if he was given a Section 8 discharge. Leper ran for his future, not his life. He tells Gene, “You can’t get a job after that” (Knowles 144). Gene and Leper have two different “escapes”. To Gene, men and women escape from danger and fight for survival. For Leper, he escaped because of his career, he doesn’t want to be the rumored “Psycho”. At the end, Leper is right back where he came from, with a strang fake confidence that could ruin Gene’s friendship for Finny forever. After all the way Gene treated him, he has every reason too.
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