While the boys in "A Separate Peace" initially were either ambivalent or persecutory toward Leper, there is a great transition of those attitudes as the story progresses.
For instance, once Leper goes into the army, the boys begin noting all the wartime headlines about victories, and they credit Leper for each one. Their imaginations run wild with ideas about who he could be fighting or battles he could be winning.
Once Gene has a very intimate talk with Leper toward the end of the story, he discovers that his friend received a "Section Eight" discharge, reserved only for those who are mentally unstable. Leper describes his intense hallucinations to Gene, and Gene is so distraught by the descriptions of severed body parts and unreal visions that he abandons Leper at his home.
Throughout the story, Leper is somewhat of an "outcast," hence the symbolism behind his name. Lepers in biblical times were scorned and shunned for their physical condition, a pox-like infection that spread rampantly throughout that time and place. They, too, were considered outcasts.
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