Re: Pregnant Franny?

rebehka-christine-chrissy-meg-cramer (rcc35060@cmsu2.cmsu.edu)
Mon, 16 Feb 1998 12:52:19 -0600 

okay i realize im the new girl and all but I have a few opinions here.


>That was certainly how I first read it.  It gave such a warm feeling
of superiority.>

"superiority"?? what the heck does THAT mean? a superiority to What?

>In Franny's case,
>it may not be a question of Pregnancy OR Anorexia OR Spiritual Crisis.  They
>could all very easily run together.  Either/Or thinking just doesn't work with
>many women--gotta think in multitasking, Both/And terms.>

this is what i think. i know this is how things are with me and every other
woman ive ever met.  i think that perhaps she was starting this before she
got pregnant but wasnt feeling badly about it until AFTER she became
pregnant. perhaps she was trying to understand what she needed to do or
what she could do and when she got even more confused was when she got
pregnant.  i think that if this happened to me, i would be thinking about
the whole mortality and how am i going to bring this child into a world
that i dont see as worth living in yet myself issue.

<I could much more easily see a deep spiritual crisis causing
physical problems than I could see a physical crisis--pregnancy or anorexia--
revealing or highlighting a spiritual crisis.  If the physical symptom are the
product of a physical crisis, I don't understand the meaning of the physical
crisis to the story.  It just doesn't make sense.>

not a whole lot of things in life make sense.   but it is true that a
spritual crisis may cause physical distress, but i dont think that that is
what is all that is implied here.  i think that with all of this going on
about sprituality and inner being, it is almost like there needs to be a
link back to the physical, a reminder of grounding on earth.  if franny
gets too introspective she will lose her rather sharp and correct point of
view.  i think that salinger may have brought in soem ambiguious (sp?)
physical problems to remind franny that she is Here and she cant just
torture herself. she has to try to apply her need for spirituality to her
life or its useless.

<I knew how just Franny felt.  And I was sure I'd
        have approached her situation in just the way good old Zooey did.
        God, there were very few of us left.  The salt of the earth.?

again i am wondering what is meant by 'few of us left' and 'salt of the
earth'.  i dont know.  hmmm.  food for thought.  (with plenty
of...yes..youknowwhat.)