Subject: Re: Eric's homosexuality
From: tiffany anne hanulec (thanulec@brynmawr.edu)
Date: Wed Feb 26 1997 - 01:14:40 GMT
>
>J.D. Salinger is also a modernist novelist. One of the primary tenets of
>modernism is that the author "shows" rather than "tells." And let's be
>honest, there would be NO reason for Eric to discuss his sexuality with
>Ginnie in their short conversation.
I agree. However, you can not tell me that JDS would totally be classified
as a "modernist" author. (Hemingway, he _surely_ is not.) He expounds on
things far too much and far too often to be considered as such. Not
neccesarily in this story perhaps, but in general.
>Eric's qualities do conform to stereotypes of homosexuality. That is
>clear. What is unclear to me, is why you assume they were considered
>"stereotypes" in 1950. Clearly, a great deal of progress has been made
>in educating the public on homosexuality in the last decade. Were there
>GLAD celebrations on university campuses back then? I think not.
No, but the stereotpyes that were presented in the story were stereotypes
that existed in the 1950's. The "sissy" stereotype of gay men (high voice,
leg crossing etc) has existed since the 1920's.
And I have no idea what GLAD celebrations have to do with any of what you
are saying.
>Moreover, one of the "stereotypes" that I mentioned--seeing "Beauty and
>the Beast" eight times--is linked to one of the most famous scenes of
>homosexuality in literature. In _The Great Gatsby_ Nick Carraway (and
>please don't try to tell me he does NOT have a gay encounter) stands in a
>bedroom with a man in his underwear, while the man reads through a list
>of ballets. One of them was "Beauty and the Beast." That Salinger would
>make use of such a borrowing should not surprise anyone who appreciates
>his artistry.
Yeah, but Beauty and the Beast is mentioned in about 3000 other places to in
non-gay encounters. I see no other evidence that it is linked to Gatsby,
nor do I think Nick Carraway is gay either. There are many other ways to
read the B&B thing. AND he is talking about the movie, not the opera.
Maybe he is referring to himself?
>Plus, it is the only reason that explains why Eric did not serve during
>WWII. I won't quote the text (not even looking at it, but you can) but
>Eric tells Ginnie that the reason he didn't serve in WWII was NOT because
>of his health. (Keep in mind that WWII is no Vietnam. Men wanted to
>serve.) Why didn't he serve? Please tell me.
Why would being gay have anything to do with him not serving? There was no
ban on gays in the military then. Are you implying that because he was gay
he wouldn't want to serve? We are talking about upper class people here.
It was not uncommon for them to get out of serving. This is not a
stereotype, but a fact. They would call in favors quirte often, or work
somewhere or go to school to get out of going.
>Also, the story would fail aesthetically if Eric is not gay.
Why? What exactly is the POINT of this story in your opinion? Why was
Franklin who is obviously NOT gay be hanging out with Eric? How does that
relate to the point?
>2) It ruins the comparison between Ginnie and people in Selena's
>household. Ginnie return home to her mother and a prepared lunch (a
>loving gesture). The three in Selena's household find no love: Selena
>receives no lunch (and her mother is never seen), Franklin is rejected by
>Ginnie's older sister, and Eric is rejected by his gay lover. There is a
>clear and artistic parallelism here.
But what is this saying about anything? Ginnie finds something there,
doesn't she? She has a crush on Franklin (or so is intimated) so she finds
something. She also keeps teh sandwich he gives her as a token of something
that she cares about, contrasted with the chick at the end.
In general, I think this is the story with the least amount of merit in Nine
Stories. I don't see the point, and never have found anyone who has. So,
if you know whart is going on with here, what he is trying to say, please share.
>In addition, I'm uncertain why you should doubt that Eric is gay. It
>seems that much of _Nine Stories_ deals with the experience that
>different sorts of people had in WWII: Seymour (suicide), Sergeant X (war
>trauma), Walt (death), Franklin (heart problems--can't serve), Romona
>(father dies--yes, I think Walt is her father), etc. The list could go
>on . . . and it does. Eric is gay.
As I said above, that has nothing to do with his war experience....
Besides, do you think he is out if he is gay? If so, would his upper class,
probably snotty mother still be talking to him as she is, if he was?
>"love" that she has not been offered by her mother. And if you really
>think her generosity is due to her crush on Franklin (he's 24, she's 13)
>then why is she going to do something with Selena tonight, when Franklin
>will (presumably) still be out with Eric?
Not presumably. They are going to a movie that is obviously starting soon.
It is only lunch time. Surely he will be home for dinner with his family?
>Society (not Salinger) would consider Eric to be less of a man because he
>was gay. Franklin is described as being half-man/half-boy plus, as he
>did not serve during WWII, he will in some ways be lumped with Eric.
>This also explains why he is so bitter towards war (the stories title);
>because of WWII, he is a driftless outsider to society. He's not really
>a man.
Okay, I was not offended until I read to the end of this post. There is
some serious war anxiety running through this novel. That is how most
critics read teh ENTIRE story. Franklin is bitter towards teh war, not
because he was not in it, but because he is afraid and anxious about it.
How can you think after reading all of Salinger's other War stories, that he
would create a character that felt that way? And if Salinger did not think
that homosexuals were "less of a man", why would he write him and Franklin
that way? You are contradictiing yourself. There were a significantly
larger number of men of fighting age that did not serve in WWII as opposed
to WWI and it really was not as negative as you are making it.
Tiffany
******************************
Down inside I feel the morning
It's still too dark to see
Down in love I know they're walking
No more dreams for me.
http://arh0254.urh.uiuc.edu/~misty
*******************************
-
To remove yourself from the bananafish list, send the command:
unsubscribe bananafish
in the body of a message to "Majordomo@mass-usr.com".
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Oct 09 2000 - 14:59:01 GMT