You know who else Hubbard hates besides psychologists? And journalists? And intelligence agents, or any representative of the government for that matter? Here's a hint - one appears in this chapter.
Gris wakes up from his chat with Manco Devil to find Bawtch the clerk living up to his name and complaining how Gris only managed to stamp half a stack of paperwork yesterday. Then Gris passes out. When he wakes up Bawtch is complaining to other clerks about how the paperwork will never get done if Gris dies on them like a loser. Then Gris passes out again.
When he comes to (again), Gris finds that his concerned (about the smell if he keels over at his desk) colleagues have summoned a doctor. But not just any doctor: "he was what they called a 'medical doctor' because they push out medicine; this was one the prostitutes of the district used; he gave them pills which caused abortions when they got pregnant." After spotting Gris' swollen tongue, the doctor "learnedly" declares that it's a case of "diploduckus infernam," a new, highly-contagious disease that causes its victims to break out in black spots and suppurate within days.
Fortunately, the doc has a plan: he'll "make out a list of pills, powders, and wonder drugs. They don't work but he will feel more comfortable." So a medic then. But one of Gris' coworkers lets slip that he's broke, and the doctor storms out. And Gris passes out again again.
Hour later, he comes to again again to find his driver, who has a name but doesn't deserve for it to be mentioned in this chapter (it's Ske), kneeling over him. Ske's been to the hangar and told Heller what happened, and darn it if Heller isn't concerned enough to send a whole case of sparklewater and ten pounds (!) of sweetbuns. And so, as Gris hallucinates Ske turning into a Turkish dancing girl and passes in and out of consciousness, the downtrodden driver nurses his undeserving superior back to a modicum of health over the rest of the afternoon and early evening. In any other book, this would be a touching moment, and could possibly lead to some character development as Gris learns the value of simple Voltarian kindness. Maybe he'd reconsider his relationship with his driver. Maybe he'd see Heller in a new light after been given this lifesaving gift.
Instead it just kind of happens. The chapter ends with Ske presenting the five leftover credits from Heller's expenditures for the day, which makes Gris not miserable. But he doesn't take the credits, no. Next chapter, which takes place two days later, Gris will suddenly realize that his driver instead used the money to get Gris' room back. You'd think Gris would snatch up the cash as soon as he saw it, but apparently not.
And now for some more Fridge Logic: Gris is dehydrated, having not had anything to drink for two whole days. Gris also has a working bathroom for his office. So does it not have a sink? If Fallout's taught me anything it's that a toilet, though high in Rads and low in healing power, can serve as an emergency method of recovering hit points. Gris has literally had water a few feet away from him this whole time. Disgusting Apparatus toilet water, but water nonetheless.
And then there's the issue of Gris being broke. He is an Apparatus agent, renowned for blackmailing or murdering or stealing to get what they want. He could probably walk into a convenience store, shoot the clerk in the head, and take what he wanted, and all he'd have to do would be make up some garbage about sedition to justify his actions. They probably have forms to fill out back at Spiteos to retroactively excuse all sorts of crimes. He could go out on the streets, follow someone into a back alley, kill them and loot the corpse, and be back home in time for supper. Hell, he could go to a restaurant and run out on the bill. But nope, he doesn't do any of that, he goes to work and suffers. He's remarkably law-abiding these chapters.
On an unrelated note, I have a theory explaining Hubbard's hatred of doctors: the same reason he hates psychiatrists. They're competition. One field tries to heal your mental ills by looking back at your childhood, or unraveling the way you think, to get you to look at things a different way. Another treats your physical injuries with a bunch of medicines and rehab programs and diets. But all you really need is a copy of Dianetics, and the power of positive thinking will let you overcome anything from hemophilia to nearsightedness. And anything else wrong with you is due to alien souls that can be exorcised for a modest... well, maybe not modest, but it's certainly worth every penny! You don't want those nasty thetans bumming you out your whole life, do you?
So does he hate the government for the same reason? Now that's a scary thought.
Back to Chapter Five
There's so many theories about Hubbub's hatred of doctors, psychiatrists in particular, and unfortunately(?) we may never know what the "real" or most influential one(s) is/are. Gerry Armstrong might, since only a few parts of Hubbub's "admissions" were read into public record, but among them was something along the lines of "Your mother's views of psychology are wrong, they're all quacks." These were read by Hubbard to himself, so he's talking about his mother. There's an interesting theory that Hubbub "learned" or got his start in psychoanalysis by being a patient rather than a student.
ReplyDeleteAs for "medicos," as he called them, I think it is a mixture of hatred towards psychs/doctors since he was young, possibly due to his parents noticing something "off" about him and getting him treatment; his general narcissism and "I know better" attitude"; plus his later experiences with (military) doctors when dealing with bursitis and an STD (gonnorhea?) he caught causing urethral discharge. Aleister Crowley was also very anti-psychiatry, and Hubbub loved Crowley's stuff...
Yes, Hubbub also detested government and government departments like the FBI, CIA and the IRS. Even before Scientology existed, before Hubbub even knew Dianetics would be at all popular, he wrote (in Dianetics) how, essentially, perhaps one day only those who were unabberated [reached the level of Dianetics clear] would be allowed not only to govern, but to have civil rights at all!
In Hubbub's eyes, everyone was out to get him, everyone who had tried to help him medically had hurt him, and he knew how to do everything better than anyone else ever could. All that topped off with a large dollop of monetary greed necessitating the eradication of competition...and you get a very dismal picture of how Hubbub thought then angsty "should be."