Read Online The Mind of Mr Soames by Charles Eric Maine - Free Book Online Page B

nurses worked a shift system round the clock to supervise him and attend to his general requirements.
    Latterly, during the past few days, in fact, his mind had seemed to emerge from its post-operative state of torpor to exhibit certain independent qualities. This was interpreted as a good sign, and it was at this point that Dr Breuer, in consultation with other members of the psychoneural staff, decided that the moment had come to transfer the patient to Psychiatric. There had, of course, been psychological supervision throughout, principally by Dr Mortimer himself, but no positive attempt had been made to begin educational psychotherapy, apart from some tentative efforts to train Mr Soames in simple fundamental procedures, which had met with little success. He showed no inclination to stand erect, let alone walk, and rejected eating utensils in favour of his fingers, regarding the spoon supplied as a toy to be admired and waved around in the air, despite very serious demonstrations on the correct use of spoon by doctors and male nurses. So far Mr Soames had not shown any great urge to imitate the actions of others. The question of sanitary habits had been deferred until he had learned to walk, when it was hoped to wean him, as it were, from the bed-pan phase. All things considered, Mr Soames’s behaviour differed very little from that of a tiny baby of equivalent age in terms of consciousness.
    On the day Mr Soames took up residence in Ward B Annexe Dr Mortimer called together the four psychiatric doctors under his command to administer what Conway afterwards referred to as a ‘pep-talk’. The conference was held in the annexe itself, with Mr Soames listening, but obviously not understanding a word that was said, and probably not even wishing he could, for his attention was diverted by a large abacus propped on the bed and he was happily pinging the coloured beads along the wires, quite violently at times. The male nurse had been temporarily dismissed from the room. Apart from Dr Mortimer and Conway himself there was Dr Hoff, a young Rumanian of lean cadaverous appearance, Dr Wilson, tall, bespectacled and inclined to be vague to the point of absent-mindedness, but a competent psychiatrist for all that, and Dr Bird who, appropriately enough, possessed certain birdlike characteristics, including bright restless eyes, a habit of jerking his head from side to side when talking, and what McCabe had on one occasion irreverently referred to as an oversized parson’s nose—also he had short legs and tended to walk with a waddling motion. Of the three Conway preferred Wilson, principally, he thought, because he was unmistakably human.
    Mortimer had evidently been briefed by Dr Breuer. As he spoke he referred to a folded piece of paper which he held in his hand, on which had been written a number of key words. He said:
    ‘Now that we have taken over responsibility for Mr Soames the second phase of his treatment begins in earnest. We have not yet reached the stage of actual education—fox that matter we are not really concerned with education as such, in its narrower sense. The question of the patient’s scholarly education, if I might put it that way, will be attended to by tutors specially appointed by the education authority. They will teach him the kind of things he would learn at school if he were a child.’
    He paused, surveying his audience portentously and glancing briefly towards Mr Soames as if to provide a focal point for his thoughts.
    ‘The terms of reference of the Psychiatric Division are more general, but at the same time more specific,’ Mortimer went on, expounding the situation in his favourite manner of paradox. ‘Our principal task is to make of Mr Soames what, in fact, he is—an adult male. We have to condition and co-ordinate his mind so that it achieves responsible control of his body and behaviour. And, of course, we must also supplement the efforts of his tutors in so far as intellectual