Re: ZOOEYCAM
Pierrot65@aol.com
Wed, 24 Feb 1999 00:16:41 -0500 (EST)
Camille --
I don't know if this agrees with your point or not, but right off the top of
my head: Holden as the Catcher in the Rye, a kind of guard at his post, which
is on the merry-go-round (an excellent detail to bring up by the way) or
cycle; the kids are trying to free themselves (even if just intuitively, by
the natural course of their growing, with no conscious action of their own)
from the cycle, jump off; Holden catches them to keep them on the wheel, to
keep them from escaping the cycle; maybe so he has some company while
spinning? Maybe because he wants to be the own romantic hero of his lifestory?
I don't know that I think he has changed at the end of the book, and if not,
I'm glad. I guess I think he is just worn out.
The typical revelations in zen, as I understand them in my limited exposure,
have always felt like empty salvation to me, inspiration in a void: the
epiphany being that there are no answers, and if that be enlightenment let me
stay in the dark. Or something. (I've always thought the zen angle, while very
obviously important to Salinger at the time of writing the Glass stories, sort
of counterproductive in understanding the characters as they relate to us in
the western world. Of course, that's a big part of the point, I guess, maybe
even their raison d'etre -- but I prefer a different approach. Really, I guess
that's a pretty ignorant way to go at it, but I get the sense that the Eastern
path led Salinger away from us in the long run and, more importantly, kept his
work from us.I can't explain it, but that's the sense I get. Probably just
another personal taste issue.)
rick