The Lords of Discipline

A symbolic object that Will mentions early in the “Prologue,” the senior class ring is central to how the Institute molds the identities of its students. Each ring is meant be understood positively, as an indicator both of community and of personal triumph. Those who wear the ring are considered “Whole Men” who have survived the Institute’s rigors and have earned the privilege of considering fellow alumni their brothers. Yet the ring can also be understood in another, profoundly negative manner. To earn a ring, one must endure the savagery of the plebe system and even, perhaps, overlook the atrocities of The Ten. It is possible to regard the ring, for all its positive connotations, as a symbol of lost or compromised innocence, especially for a disillusioned young man such as Will McLean.

The house where the members of The Ten hold meetings and conduct torture is a symbol of Institute tradition and selectivity at their absolute worst. Mentioned in rumors at first, then confirmed as the property of General Durrell, this house signifies that the Institute has a tangible dark side. As a site of mystery and terror, Durrell’s plantation house also serves another purpose: it introduces motifs from literary genres such as Southern Gothic into what is primarily a coming-of-age campus novel.