Re: Mr. Antolini
Bethany M. Edstrom (Bethany.M.Edstrom@Dartmouth.EDU)
Tue, 02 Dec 1997 10:54:58 -0500 (EST)
--- You wrote:
Seymour seems a little bit interested in his little friend. I don't mean to
say
that he's a child molester, but I do think that he's idealized children so much
that
he's sort of fallen in love with them, in a very adult way. I haven't got any
evidence
to support that; it's just a feeling I get. I get the same feeling between
Sergeant
X and Esme. I almost get the same feeling between Holden and Phoebe.
--- end of quoted material ---
yes--all three have strange attitudes towards children. I've always thought
both Seymour and X treat the girls in their stories with a mixture of
condescension and reverence. Seymour may well be in love with little Sybil, but
he sure doesn't take her seriously! But the Holden-Phoebe relationship is
different, mainly because Holden doesn't have enough distance from his own
childhood yet. He thinks he does, but the reader can see that he doesn't. And
in the Mr. Antolini incident Holden IS the child--he switches places with
Phoebe--and he is violated. Even when he is seen as a child he can't escape
falling, or being in the presence of falling. It's an interesting question,
one worth discussing further...hmmm