Lords Of Discipline By Pat Conroy Essays - The Citadel,

Lords Of Discipline By Pat Conroy The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy "I wear the ring and return often to the city of Charleston, South Carolina, to study the history of my becoming a man", (Conroy, 1). The Lords of Discipline is essentially the story of Will McLean growing up and learning what it really means to be an honorable man. He began the book as one person: a young, naive cadet in his senior year who used humor to keep everyone from seeing how troubled he was. The book ends with Will as a wholly different person due to catastrophic events that happened during the course of his final year at the Carolina Military Institute. Will endured the"plebe year" at the Institute, he fell in love with a pregnant girl, uncovered a well-hidden misuse of power in the Institute and because of that discovery, suffered the death of a close friend and the loss of many other people he thought he could trust. All these events contribute in different ways to Will becoming an honorable man. Will enrolled in the Institute because his father, on his deathbed, made him promise to graduate from the Institute, just as he had. He went on a basketball scholarship, unaware of the brutal initiation required for all freshman. Within the first minute of him arriving at registration, he was beaten and humiliated by upperclassmen. Then, he and the rest of his class were subjected to physical and mental torture whenever and wherever possible. They were afraid to use the bathroom, so they used the sinks in their rooms. The "plebes" , as the freshmen were called, also had"sweat parties" every night. All the doors in the room were locked and the heater was turned on. Then everyone lined up and followed the commands of the"cadre", upperclassmen. "My body took asylum in a mental and physical paralysis," (p. 147). The idea of the hazing was to separate the strong and capable cadets from the flimsy and weak. If a cadet whom was thought to be unworthy survived the hazing, they were treated to "The Taming". The cadre would find the weakness of the plebe and exploit it. If they were afraid of bugs, the cadre would cover the plebes body with insects until he agreed to leave the Institute. One boy, Bobby Bentley had managed to survive all the cadres had put him through. They picked on him because he wet his pants. All his classmate were rooting for him and helped him whenever he was being picked on. The angered the cadre more than anything. Then, all of a sudden, Bobby disappeared. All his belongings were packed. He vanished from the Institute. In the midst of all the turmoil around him, Will managed to survive, and even make some friends. Dante Pignetti, a poor, muscled Italian from New York, Mark Santoro, a loyal Yankee, and Tradd St. Croix, a wealthy Charleston aristocrat following in the footsteps of his father became his roommates. These four would form bonds that lasted all four years they attended the institute. Mark and "Pig" were the defenders for Tradd and Will. Tradd was teased for being effeminate and called "the honey prince". Will got in trouble for his sharp tongue and unwavering loyalty to the Honor Code of the school. The four of them made it to the end of the school year. There was twenty-eight in their class. Thirty-two had dropped out along the way. There was a picnic to celebrate the end of the year and the survival of the twenty-eight. The upperclassmen were there. Will vows "I will not be like them. I shall bear witness against them" (p. 206). He sensed something sinister and immoral under the surface, and decided he would we the one to uncover it. The torture he endured in the plebe year made him mentally and physically stronger. It also made him want to be all the more honorable than those around him. The book jumps ahead to Will's senior year. It was time for him to participate in the torture of the plebes. He showed little interest and tried to save who ever he could from being overwhelmed by the cadre. He saw a fat kid name Poteete being singled out for stronger punishment. Poteete cried whenever faced with the cadre. He refused to quit the school, another southerner being forced to follow in their fathers footsteps. A few days after meeting Will, he attempts to commit suicide. They find him hanging