# Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery — Decline and Fall character guide

> Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery in Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sir Wilfred, Lucas-Dockery

**First appearance:** 0021-part-iii-ii-the-lucas-dockery-experiments

## Snapshot

A prison governor who treats incarceration as a laboratory for enlightened psychology, cheerfully rearranging men's lives to prove theories no one asked him to test.

## Who they are

Sir Wilfred runs his prison with the serene confidence of a man who has read all the right books and drawn all the wrong conclusions. Where others see punishment, he sees an experiment in rehabilitation, and he is perfectly willing to gamble with a man's future to demonstrate his methods. His benevolent meddling becomes one of the novel's sharpest satires on progressive authority, and his decisions will shape Paul's fate in ways Paul never anticipates.

## Relationships

### [Paul Pennyfeather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/paul_pennyfeather)

_professional_

Sir Wilfred is the governor of the prison where Paul is incarcerated, treating him with bureaucratic indifference.

### [Paul Pennyfeather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/paul_pennyfeather)

_professional_

Sir Wilfred is the governor of the prison where Paul is incarcerated, treating him with bureaucratic indifference.

### [Paul Pennyfeather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/paul_pennyfeather)

_professional_

Sir Wilfred is the governor of the prison where Paul is incarcerated, treating him with bureaucratic indifference.

## In the story

### [II: The Lucas-Dockery Experiments](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-ii-the-lucas-dockery-experiments)

The Governor of Blackstone Gaol, he is conducting penological experiments and devises a progressive treatment plan for Paul.

### [III: The Death of a Modern Churchman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-iii-the-death-of-a-modern-churchman)

The Governor dismisses Paul's complaint and later allows the madman to have carpenter's tools, leading to Prendergast's death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/sir_wilfred_lucas_dockery
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters