The Caine Mutiny Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

The Caine Mutiny Plot Summary

Preview of The Caine Mutiny Summary:

The Caine Mutiny opens with a page torn from the book of Navy regulations outlining the articles that will become critical to the plot: the regulations describing the conditions that must be fulfilled in order for a captain to be relieved of his command.

Willie Keith

In a chapter appropriately titled Through the Looking Glass, the novel starts by introducing the reader to the protagonist of the novel, Willie Keith, from whose viewpoint the entire novel is told. Seeking a way to avoid being drafted into the infantry, Willie Keith-an educated, piano-playing dilettante-is joining the U.S. Navy. His days in training are interspersed with a series of flashbacks that introduce us to his former life and to his girlfriend, an Italian-American singer called May Wynn. A rebellious type, Keith immediately gets into trouble, and faces expulsion throughout his training period. He eventually passes, and is assigned to the USS Caine.