Evening star., 1952-09-26
XVII.

XVII.
The steward Rasselas went
searching the ship for the COM
municator and found him fiat on
his face on the flying bridge.
ASLEEP in the sun. "Suh, Mistuh
Keith. sub. Cap'n wants you.
Suh."
"Okay. Thanks, RasselaS."
Queeg looked up from his jig
\ saw puzzle with a remarkably
pleasant. youthful smile when
Willie came into his cabin. It
brought back forcibly to Willie
Ihow much he had liked Queeg at
their first handshake so long.
long ago
"Well. Mr.. Keith, here's some
thing for you" Queeg took sew
eral clipped sheets from an
overflowing wire basket and gave
them to the communication. They
were Willie's appointment to
lieutenant junior grade. Queeg
stood. and offered his hand.
Congratulations. Lieutenant"
Willie had been comforting him.
self for months with a dark
fantasy. He had resolved that if
ever a moment came when Queeg
offered to shake hands with him.
he would refuse. With that one
gesture he would tell the captain
once for all what the world of
gentlemen. in the person of Willie
Keith, thought of people like
Queeg. Now it had suddenly
come, the chance to make the
Idaydream real-but the sad fact
lis, Willie meekly took the captains
hand and said. THANK you. sir"
mot at all. Willie. We have
our little differences. naturally.
but as an officer you measure up
very well-very well. on the
whole"
Keefer Reading Eliot.
Keefer was sitting on his bed
in his shorts. reading the poems
Of T. S. Eliot.
"Say, Toni" It was the voice
Of Maryk from across the passage
way. How about coming in here
for a second if you're not busy?"
Sure"
Maryk, also in shorts. sat at
his desk, lingering a pile of Navy
letters. Pull the curtain, Tom.
Now, just for the hell Of it,
tell me this. Can you figure what
it is the captain has against Still
well?"
"Sure. Steve, I know. but you'll
just brush me Off"
Let me hear"
"Okay. He hates Stilwell for
being handsome, healthy, young.
competent, and naturally popu-
lar and attractive-all the things
that Queeg is not. Ever read Billy
Budd, by Melville? Read it. That's
the whole story. Stilwen is a
symbol of all the captains frus-
trations, all the things he would
like to smash because he can't
have them, like a child wanting
to break another child's toys. In
fantilism is very strong in our cap
tain. I'm leaving out a conjec-
tural element which I also think
is important. maybe even decisive
the sexual" Maryk made a
disguised grimace. Il know, We
start wading in slime at this point.
But repressed desire can turn to-
hate. and all of the captains mall
aides could fall into pattern on
the theory of an unconscious. vio-
lently repressed inversion which
fits in beautifully with"
"Okay, Tom. I've heard enough.
Thanks" The exec got up and
hoisted himself onto his bunk. He
sat at the edge. his thick bare
legs dangling. Nov, would you
really like to know why the cap
tain has it in for Stilwell?"
Sure" said Keefer. mo doubt
you have a much more profound
theory, and /"
Il don't know any theories. I'm
just a dumb comic-book reader
who made a straight C-minus at
college. But know a fact or two
that you don't. The captain is
out to get Stilwell because he
blameS him for the time we cut
our own towline. He thinks Still
well deliberately didn't warn HIM,
just to get him in trouble"
Keefer was startled. How do
you know? We don't even know
that he realizes we did cut the
towline-"
He realizes. He told me in San
Francisco what I just told you."
I'm damned"
"And the captain feels that all
his trouble with ComServPac, and
for that matter with the Maine
officers and crew. stems from that
incident. He knows what an idiot
that made him out to be. Don't
underrate the captain. Tom"
The novelist shook his head in
wonder. "You know. that's the
first backstage glimpse I've been
allowed into that strange mind.
Imagine, blaming Stilwell! When
he himself"
"How about all those theories
of yours now, Tom? Frustratlon,
Billy Buck. infantilism. inversion.
and all that?"
Keefer said, with an embrassed
grin, "You think you've caught
me, don't you? Not necessarily.
What he told you may still be just
a surface symptom Of my dag
noSiS-"
"Okay. Tom. How about this?