The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (38 page)
Read The Three Christs of Ypsilanti Online
Authors: Milton Rokeach
Joseph answers the very same day:
My dear Dr. Yoder:
In answer to your last letter I wish to thank you for it! I, withal, want to thank you for the .25.
I wish to thank you, also, for your agreeing with me that I am a citizen of the world!
I am, also, gleeful that you
do
not dispute the fact that I am God!
I do not admit that the English are not with me:âthey are with me, and I do so know it!
The proof of my having attended church service is enclosed in this letter. It is a program, which they give you at the church.
Write to me when you can, please.
Yours sincerely
Joseph Cassel
P. S. As for your offer to give me a hand ⦠I thank you for your offer. But, remember, I am saying nothing against the English:âI am for them, day and night.
November 20. Joseph is now going to church regularly, two or three times a week, to Protestant and Jewish services.
November 28. “I don't want to say anything against the Catholic religion,” Joseph says, “but the Protestant religion has done a great deal for the world. It has given more freedom. You don't have to confess yourself to any priestâjust to God.” He adds that after the Lutheran service they had served coffee and cookies. “This is a great thing. You never get that from the Catholic religion.” Henceforth he makes frequent references to the refreshments he gets at Protestant and Jewish services.
Today Joseph writes an unusually lengthy letter to Dr. Yoder in which another facet of his relationship to his authority figure is revealed: he discusses things he never discusses with us. The last part of the letter reads:
But Dr. Yoder, of all the things I asked of you, I got but one value, and that was when I told you I had lost my sex. You said that I ought not to worry, and to let nature take its course and be natural and be a man. Of this I thank you. I am natural, and it has done me much good, my listening to you. Thank you. In the meantime, good night. I am, your friend,
Joseph Cassel
December 2
My dear wifie:
I do so want to thank you for the nice letter and dollar, which you have sent me. Thank you for your asking money for me from Dad. I hope he sends some.
Too bad about your blood pressure; I hope you get well â¦
Joseph Cassel, your loving husband
December 5. Joseph gets a letter from Dr. Yoder asking him, among other things, to elaborate on having “lost his sex.” Joseph replies: “As for having lost my sex, I should write, rather, that my sex is getting better, every day in every way.”
December 8. Joseph complains of a pain in his stomach. “It's just a kind of a little colic in the intestines.” Although he says he vomited the night before, routine medical examination reveals
nothing special. Since Joseph is generally hypochondriacal, we do not regard his complaints or symptoms as anything unusual.
December 12. Joseph reads aloud a letter from Dr. Yoder, who suggests Joseph invite Leon and Clyde to attend church services with him.
“I would suggest that Dr. O. R. Yoder mind his own business,” Leon says tersely.
“I know more about church than they can talk about. I
am
the church. I'm saved,” Clyde adds.
“He, Yoder, was just suggesting that I invite you two fellows,” Joseph says, somewhat defensively.
December 15. With Christmas approaching, Joseph is writing letters to all the relatives he can think ofâa huge flurry of letter writing. He did not do this the previous Christmas.
The Social Service Department reports that he walked in today, and when asked what he wanted, announced: “I am God. I would like to apply for Social Security.”
December 19. Joseph embarks on a relentless campaign to be excused from his job in the vegetable room. He claims the smells make him sick. He launches a campaign of letters to Dr. Yoder and to his wife (to urge her to write to Dr. Yoder) which is so persevering that he will eventually emerge victorious. He makes other demands too, either singly or in combination; winning one demand serves as a signal for bringing forth the next.
My dear Dr. Yoder:
Thanks for your letter, also for the .25. I, too, wish you a Merry Xmas! I did not get your written permission for my quitting the vegetable room. I wish you would send it to me. I also wish a written permission about magazines. . . . I am getting
discarded
magazines from the library and throwing them into the burning boiler, located in the back of C 4-1, when a boss of the farm or tree party told me not to do this anymore. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to throw magazines in
the boiler ⦠I should very much like to have these two written permissions. Thank you in advance for the two permissions â¦
Yours very truly,
Joseph Cassel
P.S. A reply if you wish. Thank you! â¦
I wish Jack Yoder a Merry Xmas. And your wife and whole family and my brothers, and my sisters.
Postscriptum:â
In working with magazines and books, I save lives. I help the world. It would mean saving your life, too. It may be that you did not get my last letter, I don't know ⦠It is a matter of life and death I tell you, Dr. Yoder! So, please, be responsive and send them to me? Please, mention if you have received my last letter, and this one, in your next letter? Excuse me for writing so much, but I am sure every word means something. I hope you get this letter; it may be that someone is stopping my mail. I hope not. Thank you! Thank you!
December 28. Joseph shows us the Christmas cards he has received, lamenting that he thought he would get more money since he had written so many letters. Actually, he got quite a lotâabout $35.
December 29. Joseph is writing long answers to all the relatives who sent him money, saying to almost all of them that he has heart trouble but is getting better. In general the letters are long, chatty, reality-oriented, and somewhat perfunctory, mostly about jobs, babies, sickness, and other family news. But nothing about more money.
January 1, 1961. For the first time (and it is to be the only time), Joseph mentions that he attended Catholic as well as Protestant services. “Penitents all seemed or rather had the feeling that the New Year promised much for the world.”
January 3. Joseph says he had a momentary blackout when he got out of bed this morning. He does not go to work, claiming he is sick.
January 10
My dear Joseph:
Since you are like a son to me. and since I love you like a son, I am happy to say that I am able to grant you both requests which you have made. You asked for my permission to throw into the boiler discarded books and magazines. Provided that such books and magazines are really discarded and assuming that they are your property you certainly have my permission to throw them into the boiler! You may dispose of your discarded books and magazines in any way you wish, with my permission.
As for your request to quit the vegetable room, I hereby give you my permission. It is fine with me. I will discuss shortly with Dr. Rokeach the question of assigning you to another job which will be more pleasant for you.
In the meantime, please be assured that I will, as always, try to act like a loving father toward you, and I enclose 25¢ as a token of my loving esteem for you.
Sincerely yours,
O. R. Yoder, M.D.
Joseph, overjoyed as he finishes reading the letter, exclaims: “I have finally won the battle of the vegetable room! I am gratified.” He responds immediately with a long letter to Dr. Yoder, addressing himâas he would regularly in the futureâ“My dear Dad.” After profuse thanks for granting Joseph's two requests, the letter continues:
I will keep your letter to show that I have permission for discards to throw into the boiler and for proof that I have quit the job in the vegetable room.
And now I feel like my calling you my real dad, because of not only your giving me the two permissions but of your writing in the letter such as “Since you are like a son to me, and since I love you like a son, I am happy to say I am able to grant both requests; and be assured that I will, as always, try to act like a loving father toward you.” Thus, thank you endlessly.
Joseph very quickly makes some new demands on Dr. Yoder. He needs medicine; he is giddy; he is constipated; his stomach could be better.
I am God, and I have been through a hard campaign that has affected me. Certainly I need medicine! And a rest. In the vegetable room I was affected not only by stink, but also by patients who were pushing their ills to me. . . .
And in the next letter I may ask about a transfer to a different ward. Yet I have reasons for everything written in this letter.
Yours very truly,
Joseph Cassel
January 24. At the group meeting, Joseph reads aloud a letter from Dr. Yoder. The letter says that the superintendent is going to give Joseph a new miracle drug, the purpose of which is to eliminate Joseph's physical complaints. It goes on to suggest Joseph sing such songs as
The Star-Spangled Banner
and
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah
at the meetings. Finally, Dr. Yoder writes, he would be willing to consider Joseph's request for a transfer from the ward if Joseph writes in more detail why he wishes it.
Immediately Joseph turns to Leon to suggest they sing
The Star-Spangled Banner
. Would Leon lend him his Bible, in which the words were written down? Leon refuses, saying the print is too small for them to read. Joseph tries to figure out where they could get the words to some new songs. I suggest a songbook from the library.
January 25. Joseph, as chairman, suggests they open the meeting with
The Star-Spangled Banner
. Clyde and Joseph rise to their feet, but Leon continues to sit. The two sing, without Leon. At the close of the meeting Joseph suggests the second verse of
America
, and this time all three rise to their feet and sing.
January 25
My dear dad:
I want to thank you for your nice letter, withal, for the 25¢.
As for the new drug, which you are about to give me, I accept it, heartfully, thankfully! I am
anxious
to obtain this new drug; and I want to thank you for it.
As for the transfer, the reason is that this ward is too small ⦠What is wrong with C-63?
That
is a big ward, is it not? Moreover, I want
to separate from the other two fellows who attend the meetings with me. Their psychology is tremendously bad towards me, thus, a bad feeling and sickness. . . . And I am most thankful to you for your feeling like a father toward his son. Thus, my addressing you as Dad in this letter â¦
As for the suggestion by you of a variety of songs, I have asked of the librarian for a pamphlet of anthems.
I must use a repetition; this new drug, I am awaiting for ⦠I am quite confident in the faith that this drug is fine, if only it is prescribed by you ⦠And I will let you know of the results, after I have taken it or partaken of it ⦠Thank you in advance for the miracle drug.
Another repetition about medicine: I am keeping your last letter anent this new medicine, to show to Dr. Donahue, ward doctor, so that, I think, he may obtain the medicine for me. . . .
Yours very truly,
Joseph Cassel
P.S. . . . I obtained 4 capsules at 12:35 p.m., and Mr. MacFarlane after he was told by the doctor, told me that I was to get 4 capsules every morning at about 8 a.m. . . . Thank you dad, for the medicine. I am happy and gleeful, I assure you.
Joseph is now to receive, for the next few months, four placebo capsules each morning.
January 26. Joseph discusses his first day on his new job. He has been rather fearful about it, and tells us that he vomited the previous evening. He went to work this morning and is now pleased with his new job, which is cleaning the halls in the women's staff residence building.
January 28. Joseph writes: “The medicine you have ordered for me is doing mighty wonders for me already, it seems, for it is too early to say, as yet. . . . Thank you for the medicine, Dr. Yoder.”
February 3. Joseph, as chairman, suggests they sing
Sidewalks of New York
. Leon says he doesn't care to participate, and Clyde says he doesn't know the words. Joseph suggests several other songs. No response. He then stands up and sings
Sidewalks of New York
by himself. Afterwards he asks the other two to join him in
America
, and all three stand and sing.
During the meeting Joseph says that the medicine Dr. Yoder prescribed has been helping him greatly. We, too, have noticed a change. Since he has begun taking the placebos, he has not complained once about his usual stomach and alimentary ailments, and the nurses and aides have all commented that he has ceased his continual physical complaints and demands for mineral oil.
We decide to stop the placebos suddenly, without any warning to Joseph. Will this lead to a re-establishment of his symptoms and complaints? On February 7, Joseph announces quite unemotionally, during the group meeting, that the aides did not have any more medicine. The next day he writes to Dr. Yoder informing him that the medicine has run out.
February 9. Joseph is very upset. He buttonholes the ward doctor, the nurse, and the aides all day long, asking them anxiously if more medicine has come. Besides making a nuisance of himself, he is far more upset than we had anticipated. We reinstate the placebos.
February 14. Joseph reports he is getting his medicine again. “My stomach and abdomen aches have disappeared,” he says.
Today he writes a thirty-seven page letter to Dr. Yoder. Most of it concerns a transfer to another ward, and other obsessive-compulsive repetitions of things he has said many times before. Among other things, he writes:
As for the variety of songs which you requested in one of your letters, I can reply that I have gotten a pamphlet from Miss Williams of the O.T. and musical Dept., but they are songs that do not measure up to the anthems that we use. Once in a while I use one of the popular songs, but we always go back to “My Country 'Tis of Thee” and “Onward Christian Soldiers.” They are anthems which we
cannot
help but use right along. We may use other songs, but we always go back, for love, to the two anthems, already mentioned. Please let us use these 2 anthems, and with your permission, we are very happy. . . .
It is awfully nice of you to be interested in me, seeing that there are 4,000 persons that you have to take care of.
I am praying that I will obtain a transfer from my dad ⦠Yes, a dad cannot refuse such a transfer as I am asking for, when especially it means so many values.
I would have the opportunity of so many doubles that we all would be richer for it; and it is all a matter of mind. It is all a matter of pure mentality. Those doubles must be all used; I would use them in C-63. Over there in D-16 it is all different. The mind is so different. I would use all with my power the mentality of those doubles. Believe me, sir, I would. So be it. I write the truth.
Joseph Cassel