Re: suicide?
Colbourne (colby@online.net.pg)
Fri, 16 Apr 1999 18:32:32 +1000
G'dee.
I don't think that they really miss the idea of Seymour, because the idea is
essentially the only thing that they have left of him. Perhaps, rather, they lament
the presence of the idea. Like replacing a loved family member with an unspeaking
exchange student who always has his back turned.
If Seymour himself wasn't absent they would have no need for the idea of him, and he
could enter the room and brush aside all their thoughts and cast away all the
literature with a silent living gesture.
-Brad.
P.S. I don't know what that means.
> You could even argue that
> the Glasses miss the *idea* of Seymour more than they miss Seymour
> himself. (hey there's an idea - is Seymour just an idea? Like the
> nonexistent son in `Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'). If Salinger is
> implying that Seymour and Teddy are on a spiritual and therefore
> prescient par with Jesus - well, that's pretty high ground to take (:
>
> P.S. Cecilia, it's a sin that this is your first post! I wanna hear
> more! (:
>
> Camille