The Jack Bank's struggle is less a struggle for self-discovery than a journey in spite of itself. Glen Retief writes in a world of racial, political, religious, and sexual oppression, a world that inspires discrimination through violence. As a gay man, Retief is unable to break free from this cycle. The discovery of his sexuality, discovered by most of his childhood friends during rugby and war matches, is hidden from him. In his memoir essay “The Castle,” Retief constructs a metaphor for the dormitory in which he was housed for his first year at the University of Cape Town. In the castle, Retief's discoveries collide. This is the first time he is free from John's perverse hazing and his mother's Catholicism, open to exploring himself. But it is also the first time he is exposed to the minorities that the South African government has oppressed for so long. This is the first time he has the opportunity to engage with "non-whites on equal terms", a new chance to explore the other side of Jack Bank and forge a new identify. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayGiven the walls of his new castle, both mental and physical, Retief takes on the gift of distance from John and to his Jack Bank and uses it as a modem to understand and internalize the meaning of the shots. The memory of Jack Bank filled him with a “sickening terror” but also a disconcerting “exhilarating eroticism”. This understanding only breeds more doubts, confuses his sense of courage and cowardice, and fuels the beginnings of his homosexuality. The castle, his university dormitory, has become the site of his new identity, a place where he can explore himself in search of discoveries. His first challenge at the castle comes with his sporty roommate, Bill, a boy who lounges around naked and He beats up the gays who hit on him at the bar. After Bill's fight, the words "faggot" and "sick" got stuck in his head. He revisits the cycle of violence that Jack Bank created in the future, the fear that one day he too will "hit the weak" to make himself feel better. This presents Retief with a new need to bury his identity, to prevent his own self-discovery. The alienation he experienced in the Krugar National Park due to his perceived difference, his preference for Lord of the Rings and non-violent sports like tennis over rugby and war, is renewed among Cape whites . Here he is surrounded by rich white people who ask him what he thinks of Venice or Paris, how much he likes caviar, how much he has traveled. As a student attending college solely on his own merits and not money, Retief finds little in common with them. Their differences are growing. This isolation pushes him even further inside himself, pretending to delay discoveries. However, it is from there that Retief meets Aubery and his journey towards self-understanding is misdirected. Living in apartment D, the segregated black residence, he meets Aubery, a student who asks him the most important question of his life: “you really don't understand yourself, do you? It was truly the fact that dominated the tension over his sexuality, but here the racial significance in The Jack Bank becomes significant to Retief's discovery. He identifies with the “black man”, with Aubery and his acolytes. Retief discusses John's abuse, remembers how John called him a "waste of white skin" and embraces the black identity, understanding that it is the reason for his difference and not his sexuality. He believed it was not about being "an English boy in an Afrikaans village" or a "country boy in the city", but a..