When Blakely tells Elwood that he’ll be “watching” him, it demonstrates the extent to which the students at Nickel are under constant scrutiny. This, in turn, undermines the idea that they have agency, since the staff members are constantly looking for opportunities to punish them. To add to this climate of fear, Elwood wonders about the sound in the middle of the night, his uncertainty surely contributing to his overall sense of disorientation.