it because of survival, and if he did not make it, "the next nigger has my record around his neck like a rock". In the novel, McLean has no further contact with Pearce after that. The novel speaks of the death of General Durrell's son, who Will remembered as an obscure cadet who could not escape his father's shadow. The notification of this death causes the cadets to go to General Durell's house, where his wife requests the cadets in bright anger to "kill Vietcong". In the film, the ring ceremony is interrupted with General Durrell reading a letter of his son being killed in action. Will and the others then hold a candlelight vigil before Mr. and Mrs. Durrell singing Dixie. References Fiction set in the 1960s 1980 American novels American novels adapted into films Books by Pat Conroy Charleston, South Carolina in fiction Houghton Mifflin books Novels set in South Carolina Roman à clef novels The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina