What role does Leper Lepellier play in illustrating the war's impact on Devon's boys?

• A. Leper is gentle and idealistic; his enlistment and subsequent trauma reveal how war intrudes on Devon's sheltered world and tests friendships.
• B. Leper is skeptical of war; his disbelief delays enlistment.
• C. Leper becomes the school bully; he enforces conformity.
• D. Leper stays home and avoids conflict; he is unaffected by war.

Answer: (A)

The main idea this item tests is how a quiet, idealistic boy’s enlistment and later trauma reveal that war intrudes on Devon’s sheltered world and strains the boys’ friendships. Leper’s gentle, introspective nature makes his sudden decision to join feel jarring, and his subsequent experiences show that the war isn’t a distant abstraction but something that can reach into the school and disrupt the ease of their camaraderie. His trauma exposes the fragility of the Devon boys’ innocence and forces Gene and Finny to confront loyalties, truth, and the costs of wartime reality within their tight-knit circle. The other portrayals don’t fit because Leper is not characterized by skepticism delaying enlistment, bullying, or staying untouched by conflict—he embodies the way war reshapes relationships from within a sheltered environment.