A separate peace chapter 9

Leper becomes a rather unbelievable symbol of the events of the war for them; he is the fantastic liason between them and the newspaper reports they read everyday, a kind of window into the war that is no more realistic than the patriotic, glossed-over views they previously held. Phineas, strangely, draws away from his friends because of their ongoing fascination with Leper's alleged adventures in the war.