Queeg...'villianous'? ??

The complexities of command, and of human interaction, is what Wouk so brilliantly captured in TCM (the book, not the network). As emphasized, when they go to the Admiral but realize his frame of reference would not comprehend what they were saying.

Right, 'villainous' mischaracterizes Queeg. He's only villainous trying to download his own shortcomings onto his subordinates, which was of course his undoing. And who hasn't worked under a middle-manager who would come undone under the same cross examination?

Remember that Dmytryk was under huge pressure from Cohn to cut a ~600 page novel into a <2hr movie, and to present it such that the Navy would cooperate with the production. Not an enviable position, but enviably and admirably achieved.

I would say that lying in an official report isn't poor leadership, it's grounds for dismissal as an officer.

Guitarbob:

First of all, you are outraged that I criticized a fictional character?

Second, you know absolutely nothing about me. I served as a medic (corpsman) with the marines in Iraq and took hostile fire on many occasions. I fail to see how my combat experiences (or a lack of them) would influence my evaluation of Queeg.

Third, it doesn't matter to me why he was a lying, incompetent officer. He was. In my book that makes him a villain. Feel free to disagree. I hope to one day have my own command at sea, so perhaps I hold Queeg to the same standards that I hold myself.

The novel gives a much more detailed account of whether or not Queeg was really a villain.

Queeg wasn't a bad guy, per se. But, he was an incompetent and troubled officer. A further trouble in the film was that Bogart was almost twenty-five years older than the character was supposed to be in the book. He was supposed to be a nervous, young officer in his early 30's, assigned to his first command.

As well, in the book, it's described that Queeg was definitely supposed to paranoid to a certain extent. An experienced psychiatrist testifies that Queeg isn't so much telling lies as that he's altered the perception in his own mind. Greenwald gets him to admit on the stand that Queeg's behaviour are signs of a paranoid personality. The crux is that Queeg isn't considered to be crazy and that paranoia isn't supposed to disable one from command of a vessel -although the doctor admits that serving under such an individual would be most unpleasant. Captain Blakely, the President of the Court, asks the doctor a further question. He asks if an individual with paranoia tendencies could be fit for command under the normal stresses of sea command but could conceivably become temporarily incapacitated in a situation where the stresses are many times more severe than normal (i.e. like in the typhoon). The doctor admits that it's possible.

The trouble with Queeg was that his personality was that he wouldn't admit his own mistakes and -in his mind- his subordinates were always at fault when things went wrong. A scene in the book is where the ComServPac (the Admiral commands the Service Force in the Pacific) and his Chief of Staff discuss the towline incident that has been brought to his attention. The admirals asks his CoS for his opinion of Queeg. The CoS says Queeg is "An old lady...one of those types who is NEVER wrong, no matter how wrong he is." The admiral debated whether or not he should recommend Queeg be relieved of command, but decides against it as Queeg has only had the ship a few weeks and thinks he deserves a fair chance to prove himself. So, even then, Queeg was shown to be a less than idea captain.

Queeg was a career officer whose whole life was the Navy. Thus, he was driven to try and prove himself to his superiors. But...Queeg simply was not a good ship's officer. It was sort of reflected in the fact that he was an Academy graduate just getting his first command, and that was a rundown, antiquated ship. Most of the other captains of old minesweepers like the Caine were reservists. Yet, here he was, an Academy man, most of whose peers were being assigned to large, modern vessels (battleships, carriers, heavy cruisers, etc.). Queeg could see that his career was slipping away and that he was being passed by. Supposedly, his worst tantrums and behaviour came after other officers on the ship received orders from the Bureau of Personnel, assigning them elsewhere.

As time passes, Queeg pretty much retreats into an isolation most of the time, leaving the running of the ship to Maryk. Willie notes that when he's planning the search for the presumed duplicate key, Queeg seems genuinely happy for the first time in many months. Willie dislikes Queeg, but has moments where he can reduce him to a "sickly, well meaning man, struggling with a job far beyond his abilities".

So, Queeg really was never a villain, but he was an incompetent captain who was highly unpleasant to serve under.

In the book, the final chapter has Keefer becoming the ship's captain in time for the Battle of Okinawa. He falls apart when the ship is hit by a kamikaze, but Willie (now the Executive Officer) steps up and his able to save the ship. Afterwards, Keefer and Willie talk. Keefer says that he now feels more sympathy for Queeg than Willie ever could. He says command is a nightmare where one wrong decision could kill everyone aboard. He says that Queeg realized this and it's what ate away at him. As well, it was compounded by the fact Queeg was an ambitious career officer who had the added stress of knowing that his career was grinding to a halt.

Willie, that night, writes to May and sums up his feelings for Queeg. He says that he feels sorry for Queeg as he was a victim of the war, no more and no less. What he and the other officers SHOULD have done was to cover Queeg's numerous mistakes and act like he was the finest captain in the Navy. He says it's the only thing to do if you draw an incompetent a__ (which Queeg was) for a captain.

So, Queeg really wasn't a villain. He was simply an unpleasant and incompetent commanding officer. The officers made things worse both themselves and him with their universal disloyalty. It's implied that if they'd supported him and covered his mistakes they could have suffered through until Queeg finally did get reassignment orders.

I've read the book several times and of course seen the film. The question of Queeg's status of good or bad is really a fascinating one, when you get down to it. Here's my own opinion, for what it's worth (I'm actually a grad student in psychology, so I know a bit about it).

Queeg is as much a victim as he is a villian. From the very first, you get the distinct impression that he's in over his head. He had only a few months as an executive officer before being given command, and at no time had he ever actually conned the ship. That's why he grounds the Caine in his first attempt to leave Pearl. The problem is (as the psychiatrists pointed out in the trial), Queeg has so much invested in his identity as a naval officer that he can't stand to admit he's wrong, and sees being wrong as a threat to his position, and hence, his identity or sense of "self". When confronted about the grounding and the famous loss of the target (when he steamed over his tow-line while bitching out Urban for his shirt-tail), the commander accepted Queeg's story...but not without some serious reservations. He went so far as to offer Queeg a post in San Francisco, witht he promise of an excellent fitness report; claimed it was a way of making up for an obviously wrong assignment, and some shore time for Queeg (who'd been at sea for several years). Queeg didn't accept. The commander then went to the admiral, who didn't trust Queeg either, and had him transferred to another command.

The commander and admiral were right in their assumption that Queeg wasn't truly ready for command, but didn't act on it. They should have, because it's true; Queeg WASN'T ready. But here's the thing. Ready or not, he tried his best. As Willie later realizes in the novel, Queeg conned the Caine for 15 months with no major disasters, and with the ill-will of his entire wardroom. Would the ship have been lost in the typhoon if Maryk hadn't taken over? Maybe, but who knows? The question isn't whether or not Queeg was a good officer, but whether or not he should have been forcibly relieved.

It's quite clear that Queeg isn't a good officer at all. Mental problems aside, he's not too bright, he's mean, and he lies through his teeth. He should never have had command, but once he had it, he deserved better. I wonder often what would have happened had Maryk went to him and simply told him man-to-man that he was there to support him, and would help him in any way Queeg needed. Would Queeg respond? Don't know, really; he might see the offer of help as a perception of his weakness and disregard it, but you never know.

So what did he do wrong? Well, he lied continually. He unfairly punished the officers and men, often to the point of endangering the shipt (for example, not letting the officer's sleep and then putting them on watch...that's a damn dangerous combination). He persecuted Stillwell out of spite, held up promotions and transfers, and was a coward in battle. Yes, a coward. Maybe he had the right to be, but sick or not, the fact is he DID run from the beach in the Kwajelien invasion, and he DID run off leaving the Stanfield to take fire from a shore battery when he could have helped engage it.

But is he a villain for this? Nah. Not really. Undesireable, yes, but not a villian. No, the real villian was Keefer, who was just too damn smart for his own good. It was fine for Keefer to bitch about Queeg and talk about how he was paranoid, but when it came time to put up or shut up, he turned turtle and refused. Then in the trial, he outright lied. That was actually fortunate for Maryk, but still it was a shameful thing to do, hanging his freind out to dry over his own ideas like that.

So to me, Queeg was a victim of the war, his position, and the treachery of Keefer. All the rest follows from that. Maryk, too, was a victim; had it not been for Keefer he probably wouldn't have ever relieved Queeg. As Willie surmised, during the storm there'd have been some wrangling and Queeg would have eventually come north if things got too bad. I wouldn't want to serve with Queeg, and would probably hate him, but knowing what we know, it's pretty clear he isn't really a villian.

It IS a pleasure, isn't it?

That's one reason I enjoy being a big fan of the old, classic movies so much: so many other REAL fans are intelligent, well-spoken adults - though I think it's also ok (and maybe even important) to remain children at heart.


"Think slow, act fast." --Buster Keaton