Nancy Caskin

Nancy Caskin is one of the twenty-four students held hostage by Charles Decker in Room 16 of Placerville High School on the morning of the crisis. She is present for the entire siege, from the initial shooting of Mrs. Underwood through the psychological breakdown of the school psychiatrist Don Grace, the fight between Irma Bates and Grace Stanner, and the long confessional stories told by Decker and his classmates. Though she speaks little during the early hours, her role becomes decisive in the final act of the hostage event, when the class turns on Ted Jones.

Role During the Siege

Nancy Caskin is listed in the roll call Decker reads over the intercom to Principal Thomas Denver, confirming she is one of the hostages. When the news report on Corky Herald's transistor radio reads the list of names aloud, Nancy exclaims, "I'm on the radio!" and blinks and smiles tentatively, a moment of personal excitement that Melvin Thomas whistles at, causing her to color and tell him to shut up. She is present for the fight between Irma Bates and Grace Stanner, and when Decker draws a circle on the floor and declares that a single step outside it means death, Nancy is among those who understand the rule. She is also in the room when Decker tells his story about the failed sexual encounter with Dana Collette at Schoodic Point, and when he recounts the confrontation with his father in the garage.

Participation in the Attack on Ted Jones

As the siege nears its end, Decker asks the class to identify the "final order of business." Pig Pen raises his hand first, then Susan Brooks, Sandra Cross, Grace Stanner, Irma Bates, Corky Herald, Don Lordi, Pat Fitzgerald, Sarah Pasterne, Tanis Gannon, Nancy Caskin, Dick Keene, Mike Gavin, George Yannick, Harmon Jackson, Melvin Thomas, and Anne Lasky — all but Ted Jones. Carol Granger articulates the purpose: "We have to help show Ted where he has gone wrong." What follows is a collective assault on Ted. Nancy Caskin participates directly: she "stuffed a large wad of notebook paper into his mouth. He tried to spit it out, but Sandra rammed it back in." This act, performed alongside Sandra Cross, is part of a coordinated, escalating attack that includes ink poured in Ted's hair, a ruler shoved down his pants, his shirt ripped off, his nose bitten, and his foot stomped on. Nancy's action — silencing Ted with paper — is a deliberate, physical contribution to the group's violence.

Aftermath and Significance

After the attack, Decker has Corky Herald pull up the shades. The hostages file out, their hands streaked with black ink. Nancy Caskin is among them, walking across the lawn into the crowd of police and reporters. She is not mentioned again in the narrative. Her participation in the assault on Ted Jones, however, marks a significant transformation: a quiet, ordinary student who initially reacted with personal excitement to being named on the radio becomes an active participant in mob violence. Her role illustrates how the hostage crisis erodes individual boundaries and enables ordinary classmates to commit acts of cruelty they would never have considered outside Room 16.