Name two adult figures at Devon and describe their influence on the students.

• A. Mr. Ludsbury (dorm supervisor who enforces rules) and Dr. Stanpole (the school physician who treats Finny after the fall); they anchor the boys in responsibility and mortality.
• B. Headmaster and janitor; they provide financial support.
• C. Coach and guidance counselor; they encourage risk-taking and independence.
• D. Local priest and mayor; they shape moral codes.

Answer: (A)

Authority figures at Devon who shape the boys’ sense of responsibility and their confrontation with consequences are represented most clearly by the dorm supervisor and the school physician. The dorm supervisor, Mr. Ludsbury, models the daily structure and discipline of the house—rules, routines, and the expectation that a student will answer for his actions. This steady presence grounds the boys in the ordinary duties of school life and reminds them that there are limits to their autonomy, which is a crucial counterbalance to their impulses and experiments with risk.

Dr. Stanpole, the school physician, stands in for the more serious, real-world outcomes of those impulses. He attends to injuries, assesses what happened after Finny’s fall, and his medical perspective brings home the fragility of life and the consequences that follow from a moment of carelessness or bravado. His role forces the boys to face reality beyond the immediacy of their adventures, anchoring the narrative in mortality and accountability.

Together, these two figures anchor the boys in a world of rules, care, and consequence, shaping their development as they navigate adolescence within the Devon environment. The other pairs mentioned—though they may appear in various stories or settings—do not capture these pivotal roles as central to Devon’s influence on the students in this novel.