Bull Meecham

Wilbur "Bull" Meecham, the Great Santini, is both the protagonist and the main antagonist in the novel "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy. In his early forties, Bull is a bear of a man and a native of Chicago. Brash and loud, he has a penchant for drinking. He is a crack Marine fighter pilot and colonel. He is relentless, brutish, and a bully. He treats his family as if they were a Marine unit, always holding them up to a higher standard. He is verbally and physically abusive; yet, Lillian, his wife, refuses to leave him because she sees some good in him. Bull's children, Ben, Matt, Mary Anne, and Karen, disagree. They see their father mainly as someone to be hated and feared, or both, depending on the child.

Bull moves his family to South Caroline when he comes there to command Squadron 367 at Ravenel...