Elizabeth,
That's an interesting approach to the story. I don't see any glimmer of hope
throughout it, however. The reason why Sybil runs "without regret" is
exactly why she will choose, like her mother, to live a life opposite to
what someone like Seymour valued. Maybe that is why Salinger had introduced
us to Sybil in the way he did, she is Muriel when she was a young girl.
Judgemental, jealous and materialistic. Cares about nothing but herself, and
is too dumb to realize her shortcomings because she was raised by a twisted
mind.
As I expounded in the original post, the only young person who can escape
such a pathetic existence is the Anonymous Man, and this ahppes only through
a mystical experience. So I don't see much in the way of hope in any of the
tales in Nine Stories, only malcontent and desire.
Cordially,
John Gedsudski
Adjunct Professor of Economics
Northern Philistia Community College
Whirly Wood, Conn.
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attached mail follows:
"So...if Jerome's conundrum, his fish hole is the restraints of his spiritual
view of the world, how depressing. If you are aware of spiritual reality
and your state, you become bananafish aware? so you exit like Teddy or
Seymour? and if you are clueless you are like the fat lady or worse yet,
you're a trivial yapping New Yorker or section man. And if you are aware of
your state and you know what the doll on the airplane sees but continue to
eat bananas anyway you are Buddy."
This is my favorite story, and I like thinking about what roles I choose to play. For me, it's practically a viscious cycle. Eventhough the inevitability of having human short comings is depressing, I think there is a strong theme of hope in the story. The allusion I see to Sibyl the Prophetess leads me to believe that Sybil will eventually be able to learn from her mistakes and set an example for others. Hopefully, that idea is not ol
d news to everyone: I don't really have anyone to check them with...
Elizabeth
>From: Yocum Daniel GS 21 CES/CEOE
>Reply-To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
>To: "'bananafish@roughdraft.org'"
>Subject: RE: The Sound of Silence
>Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 15:46:25 -0000
>
> ...Exactly why the Glass family points out his mimicry, and why he
>retreats to his comfortable hermitage.
>
>John Gedsudski
>
>
>Thanks Gedsudski,
>So...if Jerome's conundrum, his fish hole is the restraints of his spiritual
>view of the world, how depressing. If you are aware of spiritual reality
>and your state, you become bananafish aware? so you exit like Teddy or
>Seymour? and if you are clueless you are like the fat lady or worse yet,
>you're a trivial yapping New Yorker or section man. And if you are aware of
>your state and you know what the doll on the airplane sees but continue to
>eat bananas anyway you are Buddy.
>
>Damn, is there anything else to eat besides little apples and bananas
>(Raffi's tune of apples and bananas repeats in my head)? Are Zooey or even
>Seymour really "performing" for the fat lady? I thought in Jerome's world
>the fat lady can't be anything more than Maya (sp?). All the Glass's are
>performers. It seems like a condescending performance. They have truly
>failed to see that Seymour did not make them freaks they ARE the fat lady,
>Jerome too. Take a step back, the Zen state of being is not a bad way to
>see things (mostly), to see things as they are with self restrained ego. It
>is the stuff, or true mana of the soul, at least for a writer. But the
>Glasses are delusional. I am a romantic sometimes, I can sit and see nature
>and really see it. It's a secret but when I go hunting I miss a lot of
>opportunities to take game because I am busy seeing. That is the true love
>of hunting or fishing for that matter. You sleep in a tent in the
>mountains, at 9,000 feet or more, with 20 plus inches of snow on the ground,
>frost on the inside of the nylon and flesh biting air. You wake up before
>light, eat and mill about the warm beautiful fire and then head out to stalk
>until sunset. You might rendezvous with your party for lunch some where to
>fry burritos or something. It is over 12 hours a day 5 to 7 days of,... not
>bananas, in valleys and mountain sides, crests and peaks, meadows, and
>ravines. Napping in the hollow of a jumble of boulders, writing random
>thoughts on the back of your elk tag because you forgot to bring paper.
>Now, if you get an elk, what are you to do with your notes (apples)? Hell,
>we'll see if an elk comes. Taking an animal is great and the meat is nice
>to have and share but that is not hunting. There is no other fat lady
>except you out there, no vaudeville act.
>
>Maybe Holden saw fat ladies too and was afraid of becoming one, to bad he
>didn't realize he was already one, like Franny, Zooey, Buddy and even
>Seymour. Jerome needed entertainers that he could listen to from his porch
>swing. There is an audience but it isn't the fat lady or even Jerome.
>
>I don't know what bannanafever means, I saw it in a book section heading but
>I haven't read that section yet, it just made me think. I guess I am a
>flesh eater and blood drinker, I'll leave the apples and bananas to the
>vegetarians. Holden is a meat eater too, that is why he wears a red hunting
>cap.
>
>Daniel
>-
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Received on Wed Feb 5 10:33:24 2003