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Brinker Hadley
A member of Gene and Finny’s circle of friends at Devon, Leper is an eccentric student who enjoys communing with nature. As the other boys play sports and leap from trees, Leper photographs beaver dams and goes cross-country skiing. His shy, gentle demeanor makes his decision to enlist in the Army all the more shocking. His ensuing breakdown and desertion from military service becomes a key facet of the novel’s critique of World War II, which destroyed innocent boys like Leper emotionally and physically. Furthermore, the fact that joining the military destabilizes Leper so thoroughly is what finally forces both Finny and Gene to admit the overwhelming reality of the war, suddenly sensing its proximity and severity by registering its profound effect on their otherwise mild-mannered friend. When Brinker holds a mock tribunal to determine whether or not Gene intentionally caused Finny’s fall, Leper serves as the key witness, confirming that Gene bounced the tree limb and sent Finny plummeting to the riverbank.
Elwin “Leper” Lepellier Quotes in A Separate Peace
The A Separate Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Elwin “Leper” Lepellier or refer to Elwin “Leper” Lepellier. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
Across the hall […] where Leper Lepellier had dreamed his way through July and August amid sunshine and dust motes and windows through which the ivy had reached tentatively into the room, here Brinker Hadley had established his headquarters. Emissaries were already dropping in to confer with him.
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Fear seized my stomach like a cramp. I didn’t care what I said to him now; it was myself I was worried about. For if Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it to him, and I and all of us were on the brink of the army.
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Elwin “Leper” Lepellier Quotes in A Separate Peace
The A Separate Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Elwin “Leper” Lepellier or refer to Elwin “Leper” Lepellier. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
Across the hall […] where Leper Lepellier had dreamed his way through July and August amid sunshine and dust motes and windows through which the ivy had reached tentatively into the room, here Brinker Hadley had established his headquarters. Emissaries were already dropping in to confer with him.
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Fear seized my stomach like a cramp. I didn’t care what I said to him now; it was myself I was worried about. For if Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it to him, and I and all of us were on the brink of the army.
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