Theodore Breakstone

Theodore Breakstone is a naval district legal officer whose thwarted desire for sea command shapes his perspective on the case of Philip Francis Queeg. Experienced with the paperwork of investigations but unsettled by this one, he turns to Barney Greenwald to defend it, even as Greenwald initially resists.

Identity and Ambition

On a misty morning in San Francisco, Breakstone sits in his office with a view of the harbor, watching an attack transport swing in the tide. He longs to go to sea and dreams of commanding a transport. An amateur boat enthusiast, he had briefly navigated a destroyer during World War I, but his excellent civilian record as a lawyer has kept him in legal work: the Bureau ignores his applications to return to sea.

His disappointment comes through in his salty manner. The narration describes him growling “hell” and “damn” as often as possible. His office, the harbor beyond it, and his habitual profanity place the frustrated sailor beside the legal officer: a man close enough to see the ships, yet unable to secure the command he wants.

The Caine Investigation

Breakstone is reviewing the report of the board of investigation into the unauthorized relief of Philip Francis Queeg, commanding officer of the Caine. He has handled thousands of such reports during the preceding three years, and their stilted language and familiar emotional undertones have become routine. This case, however, unsettles and depresses him more than any he can recall.

His judgment is blunt: the inquiry was botched, its recommendations were stupid, and the facts uncovered so far formed a hideously tangled mess. The report is not merely another sheaf of official papers to him; reading it has become difficult enough to bring on the nauseous headache he associates with reading. His reaction signals how far this investigation departs from the cases he has learned to treat as ordinary.

Recruiting Greenwald

Breakstone concludes that someone must defend the case and asks when Barney Greenwald can come to his office. He directs that Greenwald be summoned without being told what the matter concerns, wanting to speak with him first. Greenwald arrives late that day; after a brief, grumpy questioning, Breakstone gives him the Caine folder.

The next morning, Breakstone finds Greenwald waiting outside his cubicle, slumped in a chair. He asks whether Greenwald thinks he can handle the case. Greenwald answers that he would rather not. The exchange establishes Breakstone’s effort to secure counsel for a case he regards as deeply troubled, but the available episode leaves Greenwald’s reluctance—and the question of whether he will take the defense—unresolved.