When Somebody Needs Hypnotized
John Steinbeck has taken up hypnotism. He travels between Midwest campuses, entertaining students who are otherwise trapped and bored.
“Squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse! Roar like a lion! Comment on the nature and the direction of literature!”
The students obey his commands. For $17.50 they can purchase a videotape of the things they did while hypnotized: Dancing on tables, making out wildly with strangers. They can watch the manifestations of their subconscious, ego removed.
Winning the Nobel Prize in Literature has done something to Steinbeck. He has become bored with writing, as if there are no new heights he can reach. In the world of hypnotism, he is considered a hack. This gives him a unique satisfaction.
The auditorium at Indiana University looks like a cut-rate ski lodge. Wood- paneled walls and electronic fireplaces. Video games from the 1980s.
Sometimes a student will not close her eyes. She will believe herself too strong to participate. Other times students will pretend they are hypnotized when they aren’t, as if they’ve been waiting to act this way, to be someone they’re not, or to be who they see as their true selves, uncensored.
Steinbeck has instructed the hypnotized students to reenact last year’s Super Bowl, the one he lost money on. “Be cowardly and stupid. Leave the field on the eve of our greatest potential victory!”
