The Lords of Discipline

With “The Taming,” Conroy begins to fill out the fictional world that he has chosen. It is already apparent from “The Cadre” that the Institute’s training is based on brutal methods, and that (as Will himself demonstrates) a student can pass through this system without being hopelessly warped by it. But so far, the plebe system has been presented mostly through Pearce’s difficult situation, Poteete’s breakdown, and Will’s scattered references and memories. “The Taming” subjects the unpleasant reality of plebe year to a play-by-play, on-the-ground depiction, revealing the violent hazing that nobody had told Will about—though, as an older jock admits, Institute athletes would “have signed scholarships at other schools” if they had known about the plebe ordeals (166).

Guided by Will’s perspective and grounded by Will’s reactions, readers see what fresh horrors the upperclassmen devise, progressing page by page through the plebes’ miseries. Yet “The Taming” is more than the sum of its cruelties. This entire segment gains both interest and suspense from the possibility that non-ideal plebes such as Will and Bobby Bentley will fight back and triumph. In fact, as the book progresses, Will learns that friendship and solidarity are the only ways to overcome contempt, alienation, and violence—and that sometimes the most unexpected people (such as Mark, Pig, and Tradd) come together to form the most powerful groups of friends.

Perhaps this is one of the few justifications for the plebe system: for all its harshness, it creates bands of brothers—effective preparation for students who want to serve in Vietnam and may endure far worse conditions in such overseas combat. There are, however, firm marks against the plebe system as well. As Will acknowledges, “many of the same boys who suffered most grievously in the plebe system became the most sadistic and brutal of upperclassmen” (181). Instead of reliably creating the “Whole Men” that the Institute envisions, the plebe system may simply create men who adhere to Institute standards but remain psychically wounded. Will, even as a plebe, seems to realize these risks; some of his more theatrical moments of resistance (his refusal to acknowledge Fox, his pledge at the end of “The Taming”) can be understood as the most assertive, most visible renunciations of the Institute’s dark side that he can muster. The question for the remaining chapters is whether such renunciation is enough. Has Will been scarred or corrupted by his experiences in ways that he, and we as readers, cannot yet see?