Uncle Wiggily


Subject: Uncle Wiggily
From: LR Pearson, Arts 99 (lp9616@bristol.ac.uk)
Date: Sun Feb 03 2002 - 08:08:18 GMT


Dearest Bananafish,

I've been thinking lately about the theme of redemption in Salinger,
with a view to maybe writing a short essay on it this semester. It's
something which got into my head when I did the interview for the
'Holden Caulfield, OAP' programme and I was asked what Holden would be
like if he was a real person and had really grown up. Or if I gave any
credence to the view that he would commit suicide at the end of the
book? It seems to me that Holden would be pretty normal, really. I feel
that 'Catcher' is a first go at what he reworks in 'F&Z', about the
need to see the world for what it is and then accept it. The rejection
of 'phonies' that both Holden and Franny go through is necessary, but
so is the ultimate acceptance of what humanity is really like. 'Everyone
is the Fat Lady' 'You end up missing everyone'. It's a paradigm which
has obvious roots in Christianity (the Fat Lady being JC) but also in
Eastern religions and Buddhist practices such as Metta Bhavana ( a sort
of universal love and acceptance focus for meditation). So far, so
obvious. But i've been trying to think about where some of the other
storuies fit into this idea. One of my favourite stories is 'Uncle
Wiggily in Connecticut'; I think it is one of the most powerful and
moving of the Nine Stories, but I find it extremely difficult to
interpret. I have been thinking about it in the light of this theme of
redemption and have a few ideas/questions that i'd like to throw into
the bowl(I've suddenly had an attack of amnesia and
have a horrible feeling that I'm going to get the names mixed up, so if
what I say seems mad, try swopping them!):

For me, this story is one of the most perfect, perfect pictures of life
trapped in suburban hell. Eloise has married this phony man who she
hates, she can't find any redeeming features about her life, she even
hates her kid. (I don't believe, by the way, that Ramona is Walt's
child). The total shallowness of mary Jane is a symbol of how empty
Eloise's life is. But, at the end, what has happened? When Eloise makes
Ramona lie in the middle of the bed and stop pretending her imaginary
friend is with her, then bursts into tears, are the tears a sign that
ahe is regaining some hope, or are they totally despairing? I feel that
there is a very deep sense of despair at the end of the story, when she
pleads with Mary Jane 'I was a nice girl, wasn't I?', but I wonder if
this total despair is cathartic in some way. I remember the first time
i read it, feeling totally exhilarated, but there's nothing specific in
the story that I can put my finger on which allows this reading. It's
as though, having told Mary jane about Walt (and therefore ended up
missing him) she catches a glimpse of what was so nice about Walt. The
way she describes him putting his hand on her stomach and saying that
he should have his other hand out of the window to even up the score is
so young-man-hyperbole and yet so unphony. i like to think that the the
explosive grief of the story heralds Eloise's desire to return to some
state of being more like that, but it's quite a vague and personal
idea. I'd like to hear other people's take on the story.

Sorry my little discussion was a bit rambling, haven't really got time
to write the kind of nice considered posts I would like to make.
Hopefully this should make sense, though, and provoke a bit of debate.
If anyone has anything else to say about the general idea of redemption
and healing in the stories, I'd be interested to hear it.

Oh, and Jessica? My favourite Salinger quote has to be the one on
Mary-Jane 'a girl with little or no wherewithal for being left alone in
a room'.

Love, Lucy-Ruth x x x

PS If anyone has a recording of the Holden Caulfield radio programme,
I'd really like a copy. The BBC were supposed to send me one, but never
did. Unless someone in Britain has got a copy, it would be difficult
for me to pay the postage, etc (exchange rates would make it pointless)
but I could always pay in kind, ie by sending a book or something over?

Thanks, L-R.

--------------------
LR Pearson, Arts 99
lp9616@bristol.ac.uk

-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Wed Mar 20 2002 - 09:44:24 GMT