The Three Christs of Ypsilanti - Milton Rokeach [150]
It is impossible to overlook the similar roles played by these delusional mother and father figures in the lives of Leon and Joseph. Both are idealized authority figures, designed to replace the real and far-from-ideal parental figures. Both are endowed with omnipotence and omnipresence. They each watch over the son so that no harm will befall him. Long before Joseph and Leon began to receive letters from them, both men had communicated with their parent surrogates through letters and, possibly, had anticipated communications in return. Thus, even before we began to send them messages, we had several indications that Joseph and Leon actually believed in the reality of their delusional referents.
The question may be raised as to whether Dr. Yoder was also a positive referent for Leon and for Clyde. Evidently he was not. Letters in which money was enclosed had also been sent to these two on several occasions, allegedly from Dr. Yoder, but neither Leon nor Clyde had made the slightest effort to maintain or perpetuate the relationship.
As we study closely Leon’s many reactions to the communications he received from his wife, we have to conclude that he actually believed in her existence. The comparable data which are available for Joseph would seem to warrant a similar interpretation. Joseph had referred to Dr. Yoder as Dad from the very beginning. He replied immediately with the salutation “Dear Dad” when Dr. Yoder wrote him that he loved him “like a father loves a son.” Moreover, Joseph’s need for a good father became evident immediately after he backed off from “writing literature” at Dr. Yoder’s behest; then he wrote to President Kennedy claiming to be his son. The possibilty that Joseph was merely pretending is dispelled when we read the letter he sent his wife thereafter, in which he assured her that he would send for her as soon as he moved to Washington. All of this suggests that Joseph, like Leon, believed in the reality of his delusions.
Let us now discuss the ways in which Leon and Joseph were affected by the communications they received. The same mechanism of denial that enabled Joseph to maintain his delusional system intact following the confrontations also enabled him to protect it following the communications. Denying the facts made it possible for him to remain calm in the face of unexplained or puzzling matters; such things as the fact that he claimed two fathers, or the fact that Dr. Yoder never came to see him or invited Joseph to visit him.
The case was somewhat different for Leon. Like Joseph, he too showed a readiness to follow his referent’s suggestions. But, in doing so, he came face to face with issues with which Joseph did not have to contend. Leon had to account for all the puzzling facts surrounding the communications he had received. Was his wife on the premises, disguised as a female patient? If that was the case, which one was she? Why didn’t she show up as she had promised to? How could she send him money when he didn’t deserve it? How account for the sudden appearance of a young attractive female psychiatrist? Why is this woman trying to commit adultery with him? In the thought processes of the paranoid schizophrenic, who must compulsively systematize his delusions, there is no room for coincidence. Everything that happens happens for good reason and requires explanation.
Thus, as Leon went along with the suggestions made by Madame Yeti Woman, he formulated new hypotheses, new delusions designed to explain the unexplained (“I know who my wife is, she is God Almighty”) and at