Caine Mutiny, The - Herman Wouk [243]
“Dr. Lundeen, would you, as an expert witness, say that Commander Queeg should be restored to command of a United States naval vessel?”
“Well, I- The question’s pointless. That’s the province of the Bureau of Personnel. The man is not mentally ill. I’ve repeatedly stated that a paranoid disturbance, however mild, is a distorting condition and exceedingly unpleasant for associates. In war you make do with what you have. He isn’t disabled.”
“Would you care to have your son under Captain Queeg in battle?”
Lundeen glanced unhappily at the judge advocate, who jumped to his feet. “Objection. It is a personal emotional reaction that is being asked for, not an expert opinion.”
“I withdraw the question,” said Greenwald. “Thank you, Dr. Lundeen. Defense is finished.”
Captain Blakely said, “The court wishes to clear up one point.” The other court members looked tensely at the president. “Doctor, is such a thing possible-a temporary disability under stress, not amounting to a full collapse? Or-well, let me put it this way. Let’s say a man with a mild condition is not disabled for all the usual stresses of command. Now let’s say the stresses are multiplied manifold by a most extreme emergency. Would there be a loss in efficiency? A tendency to get confused and rattled, to make erroneous judgments?”
“Well, there might be. Extreme stress does that to almost anybody, sir.”
“It’s not supposed to do it to commanding officers.”
“No, but practically speaking, sir, they’re human, too.”
“Very well, Doctor, thank you.”
Challee resumed direct examination, and led Lundeen to assert several times, in different ways, that Queeg was not and had never been disabled. The doctor made these statements with aggrieved emphasis, occasionally looking sidewise at the defense lawyer.
“Dr. Bird will be my last witness, sir,” Challee said to the court, as the orderly went out to call the second psychiatrist. “Very well,” said Blakely, glancing at the clock. It was five minutes past two. The lieutenant who came in was an extremely slender, youthful-looking man with dark hair, sallow skin, and sharp sensitive features. His eyes were brown, deep-set, large, and penetrating. There was something of the fanatic in his look. He was quite handsome.
Under Challee’s questioning he confirmed everything that Dr. Lundeen had said about Queeg. In crisp, clear, yet gentle tones, he asserted that Queeg was fit for command now and had never been unfit. Challee said, “Did Dr. Manella concur with you and Dr. Lundeen in this opinion?”
“He did.”
Challee paused, then said, “Did you find any indication that the commander had what is known as a paranoid personality?”
“Well, I would prefer to call it an obsessive personality with paranoid features.”
“But this did not indicate mental unfitness?”
“No, it did not.”
“Do the terms ‘paranoid personality’ or ‘obsessive personality’ occur in your board’s report?”
“No.”
“Why not, Doctor?”
“Well, terminology is far from exact in psychiatry. The same terms may mean different things even to men of the same school. ‘Paranoid personality’ sounds disabling and really isn’t, at least not for me or Dr. Lundeen or Dr. Manella.”
“Then Commander Queeg was pronounced fit from three different psychiatric viewpoints?”
“Yes.”
“You unanimously agreed, Doctor, that Commander Queeg is mentally fit now and must have been mentally fit on 18 December, when he was summarily relieved on the grounds of mental illness?”
“That was our unanimous conclusion.”
“No further questions.”
Greenwald approached the witness. “Doctor, in the Freudian analysis is there such a thing as mental illness?”
“Well, there are disturbed people and adjusted people.”
“But disturbed and adjusted correspond roughly, don’t they, to the terms sick and well as laymen use them?”
“Very roughly, yes.”
“Would you say Commander Queeg suffers from inferiority feelings?”
“Yes.”
“Based on what?”
“Very severe childhood trauma. But they are well compensated.”
“Is there