Jack Out of the Box: Cratur’s Foolproof Escape

Cratur was a prisoner who was interned with Gerry Adams in Northern Ireland's Long Kesh. He played the lunatic to everyone in the camp until one day he was transferred to a mental hospital. He escaped from there on the very first night and made his way across the border to Ireland, from where he sent his love to his former inmates (Adams 1990: 31-35).

Which stratagem did he use?

Provided the story is true and Gerry Adams isn't spinning us an other Irish fairy tale - stratagem 7, “Create something out of nothing” (Senger 1993: 85-108) or “Sceál”, as it's called in Gaelic (Adams 1990: 19f.) - we have a classic case of number 27: “Feigning madness without losing your balance”. In this case, someone deliberately pretends to be na?ve, ignorant or insane in order to strengthen one's own position (Senger 2004: 440-485).

Cratur was a heavyweight behemoth from the inner-Irish border region. He subtly defied all instructions by carrying them out with excessive precision. For example, if he had to take out the garbage, he would throw the whole garbage can over the fence; when cleaning the nissen hut, he almost flooded it; in other ways too, he presented himself as a nuisance without anyone getting angry with him. Everyone sympathized with him and was convinced that Cratur didn't belong to a place like Long Kesh.

Gerry Adams doesn't say how long Cratur lived with them in Cage Eleven. However, it can be assumed that the others left him alone and he led a very comfortable life there, having effectively demonstrated his incompetence.

On the day of his transfer to a mental institution, he secretly broke out of the window at night and is said to have phoned his comrade in Long Kesh from a bar in Dundalk the very next day to say he was fine.

Sin, Sin, Cratur.

Agus sin mar a bhí sé.

Sources

1. Adams, Gerry (1990): Cage Eleven. Dingle, Co. Kerry: Brandon Book Publishers Ltd.
2. Senger, Harro von (1993): The Book of Stratagems. Tactics for Triumph and Survival. Under participation of Myron B. Gubitz. New York, NY: Penguin Books.