Seventh Chapter by Kathi Daley

Author:Kathi Daley [Daley, Kathi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kathi Daley Books
Published: 2018-08-14T05:00:00+00:00

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“I have found something,” George said to us as we took chairs at his kitchen table with cups of hot coffee. “I don’t know for certain that Bosley’s theory led to his death, but if it’s true, it’s disturbing.”

Jack leaned forward, resting his arms on the table in front of him. “Let’s hear what you found, and we can figure out what to do with it after that.”

George took a sip from his cup, then began. “I’m not sure how he found it, but it seems Bosley came across something relating to a man named Oswald Bollinger, a rich man by any standards. He was an heir to old money, but he was also a scientist who studied abnormal psychology during the late nineteenth century, which no one would argue was a dynamic time for the field. I don’t want to bore you with all the details, but I’d like to offer a few points to give you a feel for what I mean by dynamic.”

Jack and I both nodded for him to continue.

George began to read from his computer screen. “In 1883, the first experimental psychology research lab in the United States was opened at Johns Hopkins University. In 1886, the first textbook on psychology was published, the same year Sigmund Freud opened his practice in Austria. By the time the hurricane wiped out most of the population on Skull Island in 1893, psychology had really taken off. There were twenty experimental psychology research laboratories in this country alone.”

George’s voice seemed to rise in volume as he continued to discuss a field he obviously found fascinating.

“In 1896, a paper that basically gave birth to the idea of social behaviorism was published. Briefly, behavior, even deviant or socially inappropriate behavior, is learned, and thus can be modified. Bollinger tried to find his place in the rapidly growing field of behavioral psychology but never quite found his niche.”

I had a feeling I could see where this was going, and it wasn’t going to be good.

“When Bollinger couldn’t find a way to make a name for himself working within the academic structure of the time, he came up with the idea of isolating a group of people who had demonstrated socially undesirable behavior and use his own methods, which he’d been developing for several years, to create change in them. From the notes Bosley found, Bollinger sought out the most highly disturbed: people who heard voices and experienced hallucinations on a regular basis.”

“So, schizophrenics,” Jack said.

“Among others. Bollinger needed a place to do his experiments, so he approached Gull Island’s council members with a proposal that would grant him a large tract of land for a sizable amount of money. The men on the council at that time didn’t want a group of seemingly dangerous men and women brought to Gull Island, but they were tempted by the money, so they worked out a deal with Bollinger to use the existing infrastructure on Skull Island, which was all but deserted by then.”

“So they rounded these people up like cattle?” Jack asked.

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