256
is formally acquitted of the "mu–
tiny," thanks to the brilliant de–
fense of Greenwald, but suffers
for his presumption in deposing
Queeg by being deprived forever
of the possibility of realizing his
life's ambition-a career as an of–
ficer in the regular navy. Thus,
thc lives of all the principals are
composed in accordance with their
just deserts, i.e., with accepted
standards of reward and retribu–
tion.
What the new middle class
wanted-and found in
The Caine
Mutiny--was
an assurance that
its years of discomfort and hard–
ship in the Second World War
were not in vain, and that its sac–
rifices in a permanent war econ–
omy and its gradual accommoda–
tion to the emergence of the mili–
tary as a dominant element in civil
life have been not only necessary
but praiseworthy. More than this,
it requires such assurance in a so–
phisticated form, allowing it to
feel that alternatives have been
thoughtfully considered before be–
ing rejected: in
The Caine Mutiny
ample space is given over to con–
sideration of "psychoanalytic" mo–
tivations in Queeg and in Keefer
too, and even the Cain-Abel anal–
ogy is mentioned as evidence that
the title is not an unmotivated
slip of the pen.
The taste of the middle-class
reading public is conditioned
by
an increasing prosperousness
in
a
military economy, tending to
rein–
force conservative moral concepts
and to strengthen a traditional
en–
vy and distrust of intellectuals and
dissidents. But its taste is modified
by an indebtedness to its European
forebears, New Deal heritage,
and
continuously higher level of edu–
cation. Thus it is inclined toward
a sophisticated and hospitable ac–
ceptance of those entertainments
of the vanished European aristoc–
racy which have flowed into the
mainstream of Western liberal cul–
ture through the channels of
l'Ilaa
production and distribution. Wit–
ness the phenomenal increase of
ballet audiences and the number
of people buying "classical"
re–
cords. Writers like Herman Wouk
will inevitably arise directly from
this class to verbalize its inchoate
and often contradictory attitudes.
Indeed Mr. Wouk's background–
he has combined a faithful adher–
ence to Orthodox Judaism and a
career as a radio gag writer with
no apparent discomfort-has pre–
pared him admirably for his
task
as a practitioner of popular cul–
ture.
Harvey Swados
