Throughout A Separate Peace and Summer Of My German Soldier we see how there is evil in everyone except Finny and Patty. The innocence in Patty and Finny is shown first of all, when they don't care about their appearance. They both speak their minds and are sheltered from the real world. Also, they do not know anything about the real world and the War going on. The evil in people is shown in Gene and Patty's father with their internal struggle.
Summer Of My German Soldier is told from the point of view of a 12-year-old girl, Patty Bergen. Her parents reject her and they are always abusing her mentally and physically. Patty tries extremely hard to win their affection, but she never does. She befriends a German prisoner, Anton, and hides him in her garage. When Anton has to leave, she gives him her father's shirt and he gives her a ring.
Patty Sheehan Photo By Ted Van Pelt
Patty Seybold's Visionaries Spring Meeting
Summer of My German SoldierLater, after Anton has been gone for some time, an officer comes over to talk to Patty and gets a confession out of her after showing the blood stained shirt of Anton. She ends up going to a reform school. The only person who goes to visit her is Ruth. Here, she discovers herself, no longer as a young child, but a young woman.
Patty does not care about her appearance at all. This is seen throughout the novel when Patty refuses to wear dresses that everyone tells her to wear. She doesn't care what anyone thinks. 1"I want you to take off them faded old shorts and put on one of them nice pretty dresses of yours. Sounds of my mother! For God's sake, why do I have to get all dressed up?" She never combs her hair and hates when she has to go...