Sgt. Bilko
AntiUtopia (AntiUtopia@aol.com)
Wed, 01 Apr 1998 07:23:47 -0500 (EST)
I thought I'd actually post something about SALINGER for a change :)
If you all remember, some time back a listmember named ByeJuneX advertised a
copy of an old Sat Eve. Post with a Salinger story in it. Well, I bought the
Freaking Thing, and have enjoyed it very much. I think it's dated around
1944.
Reading the story within the context of the magazine was a verrrry interesting
experience for me. It was like traveling back in time--just seeing it with
the cheesy ads, the nightclub humor, the mid 40s art.
Now, the story was told by an American soldier in the first person,
Holdenesque. He's telling us about a Sgt. Bilko, an American Army version of
the Great Spiritual Leader that we see in other characters like Teddy and
Seymour. Now remember, the mag is dated around the time of the apex of WW2.
So for the first time I see Salinger as an author selling a story by appealing
to the sensibilities of his audience. Both the narrator and the hero of Sgt.
Bilko are American army--and Salinger is writing during WW2. You're Freaking
Right his audience is gonna just Love the idea of a Hero American Soldier
being a Great Spiritual Leader. The weirdest thing about reading Salinger in
the context of the magazine was that he **fit in.** I've always seen him as
transcending time.
Another thing, too, I've noticed...Salinger is a master at giving his
characters a unique voice. So I think its Extra Dangerous to identify
Salinger with any of his characters--either Holden or Buddy Glass. It's
always a dangerous proposition to too closely identify an author with his work
(making biographical information of marginal relevance for understanding
texts), but I think it's extra tempting to do so in Salinger's case, because
he creates so well from the first person, but extra dangerous to do so because
every creation is unique.
I'm also beginning to see some common characteristics among Salinger's
"spiritual characters." Maybe next post :)
Jim