The Three Christs of Ypsilanti - Milton Rokeach [59]
When I asked him how he was getting along with Clyde, Joseph said: “Very nicely. A few weeks ago he wanted to keep my quarter; said I had the most money. But the last time he just gave me the quarter. Didn’t say anything.”
Referring to the visits Clyde and Leon paid him while he was in the hospital, Joseph remarked: “Mr. Spivak [the research assistant] brought Clyde and Rex, two friends of mine, and we had a meeting. I thought it was rather special. They brought me flowers and I thanked them for it.”
Moreover, Joseph showed indications of being under less tension. He admitted he had been born in Quebec, whereas before, while claiming to have been everywhere in the world, he specifically denied ever having been in Quebec. He answered realistically that he had been in the hospital since 1941, instead of saying, as he had before: “Three and a half years; after I’ve been here four years I cannot be deported back to England.”
Leon, when asked if he was satisfied with the new chairman system, replied: “It is a slight change. Satisfying to a certain degree. Mr. Cassel is somewhat more reserved. Mr. Benson is somewhat more reserved also. Mr. Cassel brings up books he gets at the library. Some are interesting.” But Leon modified this somewhat. “Mr. Cassel’s jealousy can be sensed to a certain degree. Like reading with a Scottish brogue and right away he can’t duplicate that; why, he snatches the book away and he indirectly says that he didn’t care for me to read that way. Today he read French and I applauded. I was impressed. Pertaining to his vocabulary, he knows quite a bit. If I don’t know something I’ll ask him and he usually turns up with a definition of words.”
As already mentioned, under conditions of the rotating chairmanship, Leon showed evidence of reduced self-centeredness and of concern for other people. He showed considerable concern, for example, when one of the research assistants caught his finger in a closing door. In October, after I had been absent for several days, he asked me a personal question for the first time. Had anything of interest happened at Michigan State University, he wanted to know. In December he talked about the weather and warned me to drive carefully since it was foggy. I encouraged him to talk further about his attitude toward me and Mr. Spivak. In the course of this conversation it became clear that his tendency to dichotomize everyone and everything in black or white categories had undergone change.
“You have retracted,” he said, “toward neutrality. Yes, you’ve changed to a certain degree. You’re not so negative any more. You’re neutral. No, not neutral, a little to the side of negative. With Mr. Spivak it varies. Sometimes he is more and sometimes less negative.”
—Do you have any feelings about the meetings?—
“If you care to discuss, it’s up to you. It’s a repetition of positivism. If it’s a repetition of positivism it won’t wear out.”
—Are the meetings lately negative, positive, or neutral?—
“Negativism has tapered down some, but it still spurts up.”
When asked if he wanted to continue with the meetings, he said he was still willing to give his time to them even though he was very busy.
There were still other indications that Leon was more relaxed. To the question: “How are you, Rex?” he no longer offered the stereotyped response: “All right, sir, except for the interferences,” which he had given us during the first couple of months. Instead, his usual answer now was: “All right, sir, a little tired,” or “All right, sir, still trying to do a good job,” or “Fine, sir, how are you?”
The Issue of Identity
Never again were we to observe the violent arguments and outbursts that characterized the daily sessions in the early weeks. After the men were put in charge of the meetings, the issue of identity simply did not come up again unless I raised it deliberately.