The novel that Pat Conroy portrays, “The Great Santini”, has a deep theme of meaning in the novel. The character of Bull Meecham, a marine pilot , represents how military life affects homelife and family in general through strict parenting and the family’s mistreatment , leading to son, Ben Meecham, to go through stages of discovery and manhood. Pat Conroy uses Bull Meecham as a way to show how experience in the military can lead to some abusive behavior back at home, like Conroys own dad, Donald Conroy, and how Pat went through mental and spiritual changes in his path to life.Throughout the novel, Pat Conroy establishes this theme through elements, such as characters and symbols that each hold and is related to the theme of the novel. Conroy …show more content…
Pat Conroy uses symbolism of racism and abusive relationships along with the characterization of impactful characters Bull and Ben to describe the theme. The challenges and conflicts that face the Meecham family as described show how all relates to Bull Meecham and his ways of leading a family. Conroy uses the events that unfold in the novel as social problems that go around with the military. Connecting to his own experiences with his father, Conroy uses the Meecham family to represent their behavior and actions that negatively respond to Bull’s own actions. Conroy’s ways of making the reader make Ben as a victim to Bull is his negative tone to Bull and using antagonist diction such as racial slurs and calling his kids names. Conroy antagonizes Bull to the reader, even though the book doesn't have a villain and instead directs a situation of “Self v.s. Man” for Ben and Bull. The motif and theme all connect to this social conflict of an army man’s home life, and how it is a problem to families all around, especially the U.S. as Conroy implies. When comparing Ben and Bull, their compared characters represent different problems and themes that is well implied through Conroy’s criticism of abuse, relationships problems, and redirection in