Mr. Sir is the intimidating and hostile counselor who is responsible for introducing the rules and expectations at Camp Green Lake to new campers like Stanley. Mr. Sir carries a gun to protect himself and others at the camp from the dangerous animals in the area, such as rattlesnakes and yellow-spotted lizards. Mr. Sir takes a sort of morbid pleasure in scaring the campers and even has a tattoo of a rattlesnake on his arm, signaling that he is just as threatening as a venomous reptile.

Mr. Sir puts on a performance of exaggerated masculinity, often using some iteration of the phrase, “This isn’t the Girl Scouts,” to signify to the campers that they won’t receive any soft treatment. However, Mr. Sir himself is abused and controlled by the cruel Warden, who at one point even badly injures him with her venomous nails. Humiliated, and especially upset with Stanley for witnessing the attack, Mr. Sir takes out his anger and embarrassment on the campers, choking a child who asks him about his wound and spitefully refusing to fill Stanley’s water canteen. Being perceived as dominant is important to Mr. Sir, but The Warden is clearly more powerful than he is. In order to maintain his status in front of the campers, as well as to reassure himself of his own power, he doles out extreme punishments on the boys, continuing the cycle of abuse. His comical name – Mr. Sir – is ultimately a commentary on how he overcompensates to prove his masculinity. In the end, his ridiculous persona only serves to make him a caricature.

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