Assignment 8, Question 2, Lachlan McGrath

2) Leper is the first of the boys to enlist. Based on the conversations and narration in the previous few chapters, what about this is ironic?

There are several things ironic about Leper enlistment. Firstly, Leper criticized the mountain skiers for "never getting to see the trees or anything" (Leper 95). However after seeing the Finnish ski troops flying down the mountain his view of skiing had changed. He realized that fast skiing is there for a reason, he also noticed how it was "all right to miss seeing trees and the countryside and all other things whne you've got to be in a hurry" (Leper 125). Secondly, before Leper's realization of his dream to participate in the ski troops, you would have never guessed that he would have been one to enlist in the army. He was "generally making little sketches of birds and trees in the back of his notebook"(Knowles 93). This supports my view that Leper used to be in a world of his own never seeming to have a worry in his mind. The irony involved in Leper's enlist was also a further tearind down of the "separate peace".