Thaddeus is spoiled and unpleasant to be around. He has been treated as an equal by his parents all of his life and does not have within himself the makings of a good man. His father, himself born into poverty, knows he has spoiled his son, yet he is unable to teach his only son how to handle the hardships life will surely throw at him. But the boy must learn to be a man and stand on his own. The time has arrived when Tad's growing ego must be curbed. There is no one more qualified to do just that than the cagey old professor at the Virginia Military Institute. But in order for him to do so, the boy's spirit must be broken. An unexpected series of dramatic events rushes in upon Thaddeus, things over which he has no control. His life catapults in a drastically different direction from that which he expected. He must learn to ask for things, not demand and expect. A wide range of characters, each with baggage of their own, become more important to him than any material thing he has ever possessed. Thaddeus Samuel Biggs no longer feels entitled.