The Caine Mutiny
Herman Wouk Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Caine Mutiny
"Captain Queeg is a ruthless man who is obsessed with discipline. He sees himself as part of the old guard who will stop at nothing to get, or maintain their power. A dictator of his own empire: the crew members of the USS Caine, a minesweeper of sorts. Captain Queeg's irrational behavior is recorded by Lt. Steve Maryk. From mock trials, to Captain's mass, to the cover-up of mistakes during training exercises, to failure to command the minesweeper in a storm that would have led to disaster...instead led to mutiny, and a court martial of Captain Queeq. An excellent tale, never to be forgotten. A classic! Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " F. Scott Sinclair, Resident Scholar
"A new Captain (Queeg) takes over the Caine Mutiny, a shoddy, unkempt mine sweeper. As the book reaches its climax, there are many happenings under Captain Queeg which surely shows his instability. His attitude is, "Excellent is superior, superior is average, and there is nothing below that." Several events take place -- running over his own tow line due to an unremembered order to the helmsman; he believes that the ice cream and strawberries served were too few to have eaten all the ice cream and strawberries, and belives that one of the men had a key made to the locker. As these odd behaivors continue, three of the men on the Caine Mutiny wish to talk about their Captain's very odd behavior to the Fleet Admiral, but change their minds at the last miniute. The major action which the book reaches toward is that Captain Queeg is relieved of command while out at sea." Stephen E. Goll, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Caine Mutiny

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's
Life of a profession: - sailor
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - conduct in war
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - navy soldier
Age: - 20's-30's - 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed - wild
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - navy soldier
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed - deluded - wild - eccentric - mentally ill - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an above average amount - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 (an above average amount)
United States Yes
The US: - West - California
Asia/Pacific Yes
Water? Yes
Water: - warship
Misc setting - fort/military installation

Style
Person - mostly 1st - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Herman Wouk Resident Scholar Profiles

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SCHOLARS: Stephen E. Goll

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