The novel A Separate Peace is a perfect example of literature that involves deep thinking and understanding. John Knowles does not use obvious hints in his writing that allow his readers to understand situations. Instead he uses lots of subtle ideas, and tends to use his characters quite a bit to show emotions and moods in the story. A strong example of when Mr. Knowles did this was with his character Leper Lepellier. Instead of showing us a deeper view into Leper's life and characteristics, he uses him as a window into other aspects of our main characters. Leper, as some may say, was used as a character foil. He showed the readers different aspects of the novel, giving us a better idea of what was going on with Phineas, Gene, and the current situation presented in the story.
            
             When first introduced to Phineas, readers get the impression that he is super man. He's popular, athletic, and from what we know of, fairly good-looking. Gene is overcome with jealousy for his friend, and is constantly trying to keep up to him. It isn't until Leper is introduced as a shy, quiet boy, that we start to see the other side of Finny. Leper is at the scene of the tree when many important things happen. He's one of the many members of the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session, and is also there when Finny and Gene have their encounter high up in the tree limb. Leper acts as a very important character because he's one of the only boys that seemed to know what really happened in the tree, although many had witnessed it. The tree acted as a turning point in the novel, and with Lepers presence, the situation was all the more made clear. After the accident, we slowly start to see a change in Phineas attitude. He seems needy, and tries to convince himself that Gene had nothing to do with the accident. He also tries to tell himself that he would not of enlisted in the war if he had not been hurt, and that the war wasn't actually...