The Three Christs of YpsilantiOn July 1, 1959, at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, the social psychologist Milton Rokeach brought together three paranoid schizophrenics: Clyde Benson, an elderly farmer and alcoholic; Joseph Cassel, a failed writer who was institutionalized after increasingly violent behavior toward his family; and Leon Gabor, a college dropout and veteran of World War II. The men had one thing in common: each believed himself to be Jesus Christ. Their extraordinary meeting and the two years they spent in one another’s company serves as the basis for an investigation into the nature of human identity, belief, and delusion that is poignant, amusing, and at times disturbing. Displaying the sympathy and subtlety of a gifted novelist, Rokeach draws us into the lives of three troubled and profoundly different men who find themselves “confronted with the ultimate contradiction conceivable for human beings: more than one person claiming the same identity.” |
Contents
PROLOGUE | 3 |
CHAPTER I | 19 |
CHAPTER II | 37 |
CHAPTER III | 50 |
CHAPTER VI | 109 |
CHAPTER VII | 123 |
D | 133 |
CHAPTER IX | 155 |
A Research Assistant Becomes God | 231 |
The Lonely Duel | 241 |
Dad Makes a Few Suggestions | 259 |
The Loyalty Test | 287 |
Reports to Nobody | 300 |
PART THREE | 307 |
The Striving for Goodness and for Greatness | 309 |
EPILOGUE | 333 |
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Common terms and phrases
aide asked Leon behavior Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic church claimed Clyde and Joseph Clyde Benson confrontation cosmic daily meetings dear dad delusional system delusions discussion duping England English stronghold father feel give ground card group meeting habeas corpus Helen Merrell Lynd identity Jesus Christ Jewish services Joseph and Leon Joseph Cassel Joseph replied Joseph says Leon and Joseph Leon replies Leon says Leon's letter light brother Madame Yeti Woman medicine mental MILTON ROKEACH Miss Anderson morphodite mother O. R. Yoder paranoid patient PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR positive reference potent-valuemiocene primitive beliefs psychology psychotic R. I. Dung refused reincarnation reports Righteous Idealed Rokeach schizophrenics sexual sexual intercourse sitting social suggest systems of belief talk tell Ten Commandments thank things three Christs told truth trying uncle ward wife write Ypsilanti State Hospital