Dr. Cecil Walker's 1st Letter to Lillian
Dear Lillian,
I am glad that you enjoyed our time together. I did also, and your letter made me smile. But, we need to be very clear about something. Whatever it is that we are to each other, it is not, it cannot be therapist and patient, nor can I be your sounding board so long as I am active in the field. It is improper, and not in the way that you wish to be improper, to write to me about your mental state in such detail.
If I had never been in this profession, it would be different. If I were not currently in this profession, it might be different. Either I must ignore your letters or you must find someone else who either knows far less than you do about the field and is not a therapist, or you must find a proper therapist. You speak of the death of certain possible life paths. By our actions, any path where I could be your therapist or your sounding board is dead.
For all your talk about techniques a man might use to restrain you, I note that you have taken yourself far, far out of the range within which I might use such techniques. I understand why this must be the case. You have set yourself a task. You will see it through to completion, I know. You have also set me a task. Do not tease me with your self-analysis if you wish me to be able to complete my task.
I wish that I could find someone who could serve as a therapist for you, but given what we both know, finding one who would understand the truths you would tell him would be difficult.
However, I am treating two patients and observing one doctor, and so long as I can trust myself to fulfill those obligations, I think that you have clearly demonstrated that you will be able to understand such observations as I have been able to make.
Dr. Keaton is not someone I would wish to treat anyone I cared for, and I am very sorry that you had to subject yourself to his ideas of appropriate therapy. He is not, however, a man who wishes to abuse those in his care. He wishes to understand them, and he maintains, always, a correct distance from his patients. Even his financial games can be seen in that light. Edgar Job does not belong in jail, and certainly not in a jail anywhere near Samson Trammel.
That said, there are techniques he is fond of using, legal ones, which I would not recommend under many circumstances. He does not know enough about the two cases he will be focusing on to understand what is a coping mechanism, what is a delusion, and what is a simple realization of an unwelcome truth. And I do not know whether it was wise of him to wish to keep his two patients in relatively close proximity, but since he did, there is no reason I can see to change that.
Interestingly, Dr. Keaton's flaws are not dissimilar in nature to those of the deceased Mr. Ramon Echevarria, although obviously far less serious. Edgar Job has been talking about his former leader, trying to reach some sort of equilibrium between the respect he was used to paying the man and the betrayal he experienced when things did not go as planned.
I believe that Mr. Echevarria had a narcissistic personality disorder. As I am certain you know, this is not a case where one is in love with one's self, but rather with one's image of one's self. Many people in positions of some authority probably have mild cases of this -- teachers, religious leaders, and, sadly, doctors of all varieties. One demands respect, possibly out of proportion to the respect due. Criticism is not appreciated. Contributions of others may be denigrated or ever denied outright. This kind of behavior is all too common.
In the case of Dr. Keaton, we see a man determined to make a name for himself in his chosen field. His image of himself is that of a man who has made an important discovery about shared delusions that has changed the way psychiatry is practiced. He sees himself as a benefactor to his patients, both present and future. This image is what he seeks to protect.
Therefore, he commits illegal financial acts, justifying them in the name of aiding Edgar Job and future patients. This is not a man who is insane. This is not even a man who has gone particularly far to protect his image of himself. But, as I think you can see, the roots of what could have become full blown narcissism are there. All of us are far closer to madness than we might like to admit.
Mr. Echevarria almost certainly crossed over into madness. As far as I can determine, he did not "punish" those who questioned him, although conclusions drawn in absence of an opportunity to speak to the subject under consideration are always suspect. What Mr. Echevarria clearly did do was to control information. He and he alone knew the full scope of the mysterious ritual he intended to perform in 1924. He and he alone knew for certain what deity his cultists were worshipping.
And, he doled out this information grudgingly, if at all. It seems most likely that he had a series of lies, like veils, one behind the other. Yet, he also had a need to boast, as we see from what Mr. Buchwald told you. There he is, our Mr. Echevarria, dropping mysterious hints to an accountant who neither has any idea of what he is talking about nor has any desire to understand anything beyond what his client is prepared to pay him for his services.
Yet, this is the kind of person in whom Mr. Echevarria chooses to confide, if one can stretch the term so far as to include dropping mysterious hints that may themselves be partial lies. To confide in an Edgar Job or even a Samson Trammel is not safe, for these people will listen to him and remember his words, possibly even spread them. Mr. Buchwald, on the other hand, almost certainly told no one until a certain young lady asked some very forceful questions.
Knowing what we know about Mr. Echevarria, then, we can hypothesize about Edgar Job. This is also a man who wishes to achieve greatness without doing what is required to be great. But, this is not to say that he is lazy. He pushes himself to his limits, and sometimes beyond them, in order to excel. Sadly, the work he produces is no better for being painstakingly determined.
As with Mr. Echevarria, he needs validation. But, he is not trying to "punish" anyone or control anything. For him, it is enough that someone listen and praise him. He formed a bond with Professor Ayers at UCLA, perhaps the first person to listen sympathetically to him in his adult life. The professor then introduced him to Mr. Echevarria, who is adept at seeming to listen sympathetically, and at manipulating his followers.
Mr. Job also has a criminal record. He committed two counts of armed robbery. His memory of these events is dim, so I am not sure whether he needed money for himself or for Mr. Echevarria's cult. And, as we know, and as he himself remembers all too clearly, Mr. Job killed a man in what was almost certainly self defense.
And here, I have to admit that Dr. Keaton has a point. Mr. Job does not want to think of himself as a murderer, but cannot deny what he did, even to himself. Everything else that happened to him fits a picture of himself as victim. I can see why Dr. Keaton assumed that the "delusion" was a coping mechanism to avoid coming to terms with killing a man.
Perhaps we are all wrong and it would have been better to let Mr. Job stand trial. I don't know, Lillian. I really don't know anymore.
Douglas Henslowe is the other side of the coin, cliched though that might be. This is a man who saw himself as a crusader, a holy warrior smiting the infidel. He has almost certainly killed more than one person, justifying it as I suppose we are all justifying what we do these days. And, frankly, far more Edgar Jobs die than Ramon Echevarrias.
But, for Mr. Henslowe, the blow to his self image comes from the fact that he ran. He did not face the enemy to the last bitter moment. He is not trying to justify his homicidal actions with an elaborate framework, as Dr. Keaton would have it. Those are his triumphs. He is trying to come to terms with what he sees as his own cowardice.
And, he is starting to make headway there. I think talking to Joyce helps him.
But none of this really scratches the surface of what broke these two men's minds, does it, Lillian? What sent Douglas Henslowe screaming back to Joy Grove after a year at home was the recurring nightmare of what he fought. There really was a monster.
There really are things out there that break the human mind past repairing.
Lillian, what am I really trying to accomplish here? What are our goals for Douglas Henslowe and Edgar Job? Is it just to move them out of reach of cultists and mouths and provide oversight for Dr. Keaton? I can do that much. But, I really don't know if I can do any more than that.
Whatever it is that we are to each other, yours,
Cecil
