Nicholas Hostetler
Ms. Birkhead
20th Century Literature
24 August 2015
The 1960's was a tough time for America racism and tensions were high between the whites
and the blacks. This sense of alienation is also present in The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy,
which was also set in the 1960's. Will McLean is in his first year at the South Carolina Military
Institute and is already experiencing the tough life as a plebe. Will turns to the help of his friends
to join together and survive their time at the institute. Will and his best friend Tradd St. Croix
both struggle to overcome the acts of alienation throughout the story. However, while Will thinks
that Tradd is helping him, he is actually using it against Will to help out his secret …show more content…
Tradd comes from a wealthy family who has a history at the institute. His father
was a graduate and well respected military veteran. His father is now apart of the elite group
called "The Ten." This group ultimately tries to scare off the students who are not worthy of
receiving the ring and graduating from the institute. Tradd will become part of this group because
of his father and uses his time in school to help out his father. "The Ten" would find the
weakness of different students and use it against them to scare them away from the school.
In the end, Will is betrayed by his friend Tradd as he used the weaknesses of Will to help his
secret alliance. Will and Tradd both experienced alienation throughout the story but they each
took it a different way. Will used his experience as a way to help the freshmen survive when he
became apart of the upperclassmen. Tradd used his experience of alienation against his friends to
help his dad. Will stayed true to his beliefs throughout the story even though he was punished for
it. This is a good example of how we should live. It is also the way that Jesus lived and it is
important to take that lesson away from this
Ms. Birkhead
20th Century Literature
24 August 2015
The 1960's was a tough time for America racism and tensions were high between the whites
and the blacks. This sense of alienation is also present in The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy,
which was also set in the 1960's. Will McLean is in his first year at the South Carolina Military
Institute and is already experiencing the tough life as a plebe. Will turns to the help of his friends
to join together and survive their time at the institute. Will and his best friend Tradd St. Croix
both struggle to overcome the acts of alienation throughout the story. However, while Will thinks
that Tradd is helping him, he is actually using it against Will to help out his secret …show more content…
Tradd comes from a wealthy family who has a history at the institute. His father
was a graduate and well respected military veteran. His father is now apart of the elite group
called "The Ten." This group ultimately tries to scare off the students who are not worthy of
receiving the ring and graduating from the institute. Tradd will become part of this group because
of his father and uses his time in school to help out his father. "The Ten" would find the
weakness of different students and use it against them to scare them away from the school.
In the end, Will is betrayed by his friend Tradd as he used the weaknesses of Will to help his
secret alliance. Will and Tradd both experienced alienation throughout the story but they each
took it a different way. Will used his experience as a way to help the freshmen survive when he
became apart of the upperclassmen. Tradd used his experience of alienation against his friends to
help his dad. Will stayed true to his beliefs throughout the story even though he was punished for
it. This is a good example of how we should live. It is also the way that Jesus lived and it is
important to take that lesson away from this