Summary Of The Naked Citadel By Susan Faludi

Would you tuck in your friend’s shirt for them? Could you hug your classmate in the shower if they’re feeling stressed? At the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, cadets did these acts for each other. In “The Naked Citadel”, Susan Faludi portrays the lives of these cadets in a “fourth-class system” in where they could help each other out while being tormented by upperclassmen. Their willingness to look out for one another produces a kind of selflessness discussed in Buddhist religion which is defined in Robert Thurman’s “Wisdom”. According to Thurman, selflessness is looking out for each other and becoming one with one another. However, these cadets only showcase a “kind” of selflessness; not true selflessness. In Malcom Gladwell’s

The fourth-class system is the system which upperclassmen trained and oversaw the underclassmen. Cadets were ruled by the upperclassmen who would pull pranks, yell and torture freshman; “…The Citadel is exceptional because the college gives a handful of older student leave to ‘govern’ the others as they see fit” (Faludi 82). In this sort of situation, you must stick with fellow freshman to make it through the tough curriculum and training the school has. For example, in Air Force ROTC, we are yelled at by upperclassmen if we do not know certain knowledge or do not help another cadet out. To keep each other from getting yelled at, we help each other study. The Citadel has the same kind of system on a larger scale. Since they are away from their families and women, they can be there for each other a way a family is. One cadet describes Citadel showers, “’When we are in the showers, it’s very intimate…you’re afraid together. You can cry.’” (Faludi 97). Together they are able to relate and comfort each other the way a family or girlfriend would through the tough times of the Citadel. Another cadet states, “We’re all suffering together. It’s how we bond,’” (Faludi 75). These cadets need each other and need to become one in order to succeed not only individually but collectively in the

The upperclassmen had an upper hand on the “knobs” because they’ve been through the training they’re suffering through. The chain effect of cadets first being tortured and yelled at continues when the knobs themselves become upperclassmen. Although cadets within the same class keep this bond throughout the four years of the Citadel, they are not selfless in the fact they continue to torture the freshmen even though they know how hard it is to be one. In the fourth-class system, cadets cannot go easy on one another or they will not learn. In this military mindset, it is hard to be truly selfless while cadets have to train and motivate each other. Older cadets may feel the pain the freshmen feel after yelling at them, but have to continue in order to complete their mission of properly training the knobs. However, they are putting the knob’s training over their feelings to make them a better cadet. The upperclassmen are not able to acknowledge the stress of the “knob” until Recognition Day, “when the upperclassmen force the knobs to do calisthenics until they drop, then gently lift up their charges and nurse them