Captain Queeg and Bonnie

When I was in high school, my English teacher, who happened to be my mother, was acutely aware that boys didn't particularly want to read about Jane Eyre or other heroines with unusual romantic entanglements. She allowed that we could read, for our required readings for the year, WAR books, such as The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk, Battle Cry by Leon Uris, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Little did she know that her own daughter would take her up on reading those books.

I had long suspected that my father had suffered ill effects from his part in the war, and I wondered what he had experienced that had such an effect on him that he would rarely, if ever, speak of his service. One day, when my mother, my sister, and I were somewhat paying attention to a war movie that was playing on some television channel, my father walked through the room and made an offhand comment that he had seen too often was was being depicted on the screen: A pilot, during dive bombing training, would become so fixed on the target that he forgot to pull out of his dive, smashing the plane and all occupants into the ocean. Daddy said that he one time saw, because he was so close to the plane, the co-pilot coming out of his seat, pounding on the pilot trying to make him pull out of the dive to no avail. Daddy said that the last thing that co-pilot did was hit the pilot, and then they crashed into the water, and all aboard were dead.

So tonight, while I was cooking dinner, beginning with appetizers of a pureed pea and mint crostini, I turned on the Turner Classic Movie channel. The Caine Mutiny was showing. Humphrey Bogart was at his finest as the demented Captain Queeg. I have to say that I see the trial differently because I now am a lawyer, but I still don't fault Marek for what he did. Of course, I think we should keep in mind that I would probably be a coward in war, and I might have been called "Old Yellowstain." I certainly hope not. As I watched the movie, I remembered Queeg's eccentricities, and found myself wanting to read the book once more. Fortunately, I have the book, and will pull it out so that I can remember all the character nuances and the events that led up to the "mutiny."

One wonders how Queeg ever advanced to Captain. I think I believe in the Peter Principle, but I think that I will once again read the book, this time with a jaded eye toward any war and this time with a 58-year-old perspective. I wonder what will change.