The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (11 page)

But Joseph's attempts at denial were not completely effective as a defense against confrontation. As early as the first week, he began to make use of various withdrawal mechanisms, and he used them with increasing frequency as time went on. He came to the daily meetings armed with books and magazines, and during the meetings spent much of the time apparently reading or compulsively leafing through a book from cover to cover and then starting all over again. At other times he merely sat, smoking cigarettes and staring into space for the whole hour, letting Leon carry on long soliloquies. Or, when asked if he had anything to say, he would reply: “I feel like saying nothing. I'll lose my values, I'll never go back to England if I say anything.” When the arguments became more heated, he would leave the meeting room more and more frequently to go to the toilet or get a drink of water. On August 31, we timed his departures—which were always preceded by the statement: “I'll be right back, I'm going to get a drink of water”—5:47, 6:10, 6:13, 6:15, 6:17, 6:20. Still another device he used was changing the subject. “As for me,” he once said abruptly, “I know a good rain would do a lot of good right now.”

Yet, after a period of withdrawal Joseph would feel the need to assert himself again; it was as if he was afraid that the others would “win” if he kept quiet too long. He would then go over to the counter-offensive, especially against Leon. Like Clyde, Joseph adopted some of Leon's delusions as a weapon. He was, however, able to use them against Leon far more effectively than was Clyde. Once when Leon said: “Joseph has prejudice and jealousy against me,” Joseph retorted: “Darned if I know why he talks that way. Negativism!! Negativism! Negativism! Rex's uncle and I have agreed that I was the right God.”

As the arguments became more heated we noted, too, an increase
in bizarre behavior and confusion on Joseph's part, the full significance of which we did not presume to understand. The weather that summer was particularly hot, yet Joseph often wore three pairs of socks—yellow, then pink, then yellow. He wore a pair of women's horn-rimmed glasses without lenses to which he managed to attach a lorgnette, thereby creating a sight not beheld since Coppelius gave Hoffmann his pair of enchanted spectacles. As Leon's reprimand suggests, he also threw towels and loaves of bread into the toilet and tossed magazines and books out of the window. When Leon asked him why he did this, Joseph replied: “Everything's all right—the world is saved.” But when on another occasion I asked him about it, he denied it. And when I said that I had seen him, he replied that he never threw anything out of the window.

Along with these manifestations, we also noted a sharp rise in ritualistic behavior. One of Joseph's gestures was to extend his right index finger in an upward direction. When I asked him why he did it, he explained that he was thinking about England and that what he was thinking was right. “Finger” in French is
doigt
and “right” is
droit
, he said—“Isn't that a good symbol?” When asked about another gesture, that of making a circle with thumb and forefinger, he replied: “That's a zero. It means nothing wrong for England. It also means an exclamation! correct! beautiful! perfect! O.K.! unmalicious! benevolent! charming! delightful!” This behavior subsided, however, after the first month or so.

Around the tenth of August, Joseph and Leon had come to an implicit agreement, a kind of truce, that they would not attack each other, verbally or otherwise, during the meetings. Both of them said they did not want any more conflict. However, despite these avowed intentions, Joseph went over to the attack whenever I was on hand, because he believed I was his ally and he felt strengthened by my presence. Under these circumstances Leon refrained from counterattack until he could no longer stand it, and when he struck back, controversy ensued.

And what about Leon? Leon was what clinicians would call an
overintellectualizer. He organized and interpreted his attacks and defenses in terms of a highly coherent delusional system. To Leon it was intolerable not to have answers for everything. Despite his apparent inability to take overt aggressive action, it was clear that, of the three, he aroused the most hostility in the others. He was the most overcontrolled, the most rigid, the most unbending, and he set the pace for Clyde and Joseph.

In spite of Leon's threat not to attend the meetings because they were “mental torture” and because “you are trying to agitate one against the other,” he always came to the daily sessions. From the very first encounter he was frequently able to control the situation. His invitation to Joseph to discuss his case and his dreams is one example. He was also quite adept at monopolizing the group meetings to discuss his own delusions at great length, or at changing the subject to a neutral one which could be safely discussed with the others. On one occasion, Joseph was talking about being God and working for England. “Mr. Cassel,” Leon broke in, “may I change the subject?” Whereupon they carried on a conversation about their favorite seafoods, which in turn led to whales and whalebones, thence to corsets, from there to cookies, crackers, and biscuits, then to favorite brands of cigarettes, tobacco, and cigars. Then all of a sudden Joseph was back on the subject of England. Leon again interrupted by turning to Clyde: “Mr. Benson, you haven't said much. Would you like to discuss something?” Clyde mumbled something which the others did not grasp, and once again Joseph was back on England. Again Leon, in his usual polite tone, asked to change the subject to hunting trips, which they discussed for a while, until Joseph got back to England again. And once more Leon changed the subject—to Alaska.

When Joseph started to come to the meetings with books and magazines, we were almost immediately able to put this defense to a social use by suggesting that he read to the other men. He seized on this eagerly, and Leon and Clyde agreed with just as much pleasure. From that point on, reading aloud—most often by Joseph, but occasionally by Leon or Clyde—became a regular part of the
daily meetings. Leon did not assume responsibility for this routine; he was quite content to let Joseph bring the reading matter for the meetings. In fact, he came to depend on Joseph for this, although immediately following the occasions when Joseph forgot to supply the reading matter Leon brought his own, which generally consisted of such material as the
Reader's Digest
.

This is not to say, however, that Leon was always eager to avoid controversies with the others. He never baited Clyde, but he often baited Joseph, who was usually no match for him. Once Joseph expressed a desire to go to the patients' store to buy some coffee.

“Sir,” Leon remarked, “that's funny that you want coffee. I thought the English drank tea.”

“Say, you really listen, don't you?” replied Joseph sarcastically. “The English had all the coffee at one time and they'll have it again sometime.”

“They have instant tea as well as coffee at the store,” Leon persisted.

“Oh, yeah?” Joseph said lamely.

As the arguments became increasingly more fierce, Leon dropped his baiting tactics and assumed the role of peacemaker. From the time Clyde had attacked him over the Adam issue Leon made a special effort to placate him, and he tried to stop feuds from developing between Clyde and Joseph.

Nevertheless, Leon was not really in control. Far from it, as evidenced by the sharp increase in his compulsive ritualistic behavior. One of his rituals was “shaking off,” an act designed to get rid of the electronic interferences and impositions to which he believed he was continually subjected. He “shook off” by sitting rigidly in his chair, pressing his fingers firmly against his temples, and vigorously massaging his head while holding his breath until he was red in the face. When the quarrels were at their highest pitch, he had to shake off every twenty minutes. Since he had no watch he made a nuisance of himself by repeatedly asking the time. During these periods he would reply to the question: “How are you, Rex?” with: “All right, sir, except for the interferences.” Another ritual took place at meal-times,
when he would drink “charged-up” salt water—made by pouring about half the salt from a full salt shaker into a glass of water. After shooting cosmic rays into the glass by making twenty grimaces he would drain the concoction down in a series of convulsive gulps. This, too, was designed to reduce the interferences and was apparently a behavior pattern which did not set in until after the study began.

Often Leon said nothing at the meetings, and once I asked him why he was so quiet.

“I'm deducting what is truthful and the rest I put into the squelch chamber, sir.”

—
The squelch chamber?
—

“The human has two squelch chambers. Some people have four. It depends. It's their privilege if they want one in the subconscious region of their brain. It's a little bit beyond the center point—about one and a half inches from the top of the skull—and it is an aid to the person. For example, if the squelch chamber is charged positively, it will counteract negative engrams—grind them up—by grinding up I mean the faculties of the squelch chamber are such wherein sound is amplified into itself and the inter-amplification of the sound or engrams as such are squelched; that is, transformed through amplification that is so great that it is transformed into light, organic light as a secondary outlet that refreshes the brain to a certain degree.”

General Reactions to Confrontation

At various times, in group sessions and individual interviews, the three Christs had occasion to express their attitudes toward one another, toward me, and toward the meetings. In general they did not think too highly of one another.

“I don't care for either one,” Clyde said. “They're no good. One of them looks like a Purcell, the other is a Catholic. Rex is one of those knick-knackers. I'm 'way up. I'm saved. Why should I monkey with such low characters as that? You better believe me. He's no
such thing as Christ. He hasn't got the shape. He never had a woman. He's a criminal. Jesus Christ was a Jew and the Jews wouldn't have anything to do with him. Joseph must know that he doesn't tell the truth. He's got Canada, Detroit, and Ohio all mixed up. He isn't alive, anyway. He's the son of God and he's done an awful lot of travel. He had a woman. I like the meetings all right, except for Catholic readings.”

There is no question that Clyde enjoyed and looked forward to the meetings, if for no other reason than that they provided attention and human companionship. Actually he was on fairly good terms with both the other men; apparently he admired them for their education. The least accessible of the three, the least easily aroused, he was content to sit back and watch the other two interact. Neither especially friendly nor especially hostile to either, he seemed to like being physically close to them. For example, he often asked them for a cigarette light.

Joseph vouchsafed: “I don't dislike the meetings. It is advantageous to iron out the hostilery [sic]. Rex isn't a bad fellow, and the old man is all right too. They can't hurt me. You've been doing wonderful work because of the effect on my opposition. If you keep ironing out like this, in time there is nothing left for the opposition about what I am—God. They won't believe they're God; they'll believe that they're just mortals. They will believe that I am God. Then I will be able to do my work better. I will be more tranquil. I want to do this work without being disturbed.”

—
Would you be disappointed if the sessions were discontinued?
—

“I have already told you that I came from England for a purpose and if you want to dismiss me from the hospital, I will be glad. If you want to continue the discussions with different subjects, for example, drama, literature, authors, poets—but every time we talk about religion we go into a discussion about God.” Joseph laughed.

—
Do you think that's funny?
—

“I think that Rex and Clyde talk too much. If I wasn't God, and I
am
, by golly, I wouldn't be wasting my time. I would look forward
to getting out of the hospital and getting a job. Every time they talk religion they go crazy; that is, the old man and Leon, not me. I use my head. I use Leon and Clyde, too.”

Joseph's dislike of Leon was obviously far greater than his dislike of Clyde, and he asserted this dislike more openly as their quarrels reached greater intensity. At the same time, paradoxically, he also displayed an affirmative attitude toward his present situation.

“I want to tell you one thing,” he said. “When I was outside, the scene of my life was disappearing and I was forgetting about being God. And a man has to face life. A man has to avoid dangers so he won't perish.”

—
How do you feel now?
—

“I feel better since I'm back in D building. I was too long in C building.” Apparently he felt that he was better off now, in spite of the daily conflicts, than he had been on the back wards.

Leon's responses were, as usual, more intellectual and more subtle. “No, sir, I do not hate them, I do not, on the merits that they who hate another person are murderers of their own personality. I respect Mr. Benson at times more. I mean the ideology of Mr. Benson more than I do Mr. Cassel's. Mr. Cassel adheres more to the evil ideal. That man is set in his ways. You are not going to change him.”

As Leon himself said, he was closer to Clyde than to Joseph; he was somewhat paternalistic, protective, and patient toward Clyde and tried as best he could to find grounds of agreement with him. This was not too difficult because Clyde, more confused than the other two, was not really capable of holding his own. Leon was able to get him to agree on many points, at least on the surface. At the same time, the breach between Leon and Joseph appeared to grow, and manifested itself outside as well as during the group sessions. Even when they were not having battles, an almost open hostility existed between them.