The Superior Dexterity Offended
Brendan McKennedy (the.tourist@mailexcite.com)
Mon, 05 Jan 1998 00:10:11 -0700
Odds are, I'm the only Bananafisher of Superior
Dexterity. But I'll defy the odds and ask anyway:
Has anyone ever found him/herself offended by
Salinger's rather ostracizing reference to
handedness? I just reread S:AI, and I was struck
by the Rappaccini bouquet of phrases such as
"normally right-handed" people, and the like.
What is going on here?
I think (whether we admit it or not--and I do)
we all know that Left-Handedness is a superior--
nay, Sublime--state of being. I know that
Lefties were considered weird until rather
recently in our World, and go on to to be
hurt, deliberately or not, by a Global Right-
Hand Fascism. At my college, the desktops are
all about eight inches wide, and all begin at
the right. How am I to learn about Life, the
Universe, and Transcendentalism when I'm also
learning the art of contortionism while simply
trying to take notes? It's an endless struggle.
There is one reference in "Nine Stories" that
I noticed, in "Eskimos", where the older brother
is described as someone who may at some point in
his life have tried to shave left-handed. That
bit discomfitted me (Lefties are so creative, we
can invent our own verbs on a whim), but didn't
really deeply offend me.
The copious offhand insults in S:AI, however,
deeply disturbed me. Aside from the general
tone of this post up to now, I honestly felt
a bit ostracized by Salinger--and as a devout
reader, lover, and follower of his work, it upset
me a bit.
What's more, if I'm not mistaken, Allie was a
Leftie (we know from his catcher's mitt).
Allie: The lost little Christ-Boddhisattvah who,
in my opinion, truly bore the title occupation of
the book.
Why would Salinger make Allie, the little god-boy,
a Leftie if he looked downward upon us otherwise?
Seriously, someone please let me know what you
think. And be nice. Everyone knows that Lefties,
besides being Superiour Contributors to Email
Lists the World Over, are More Sensitive Than
Other People.
Now that I've confused myself with this
GARRULOUS fickleness of tone, I think I'll
bid you all good-night, and happy new year.
May you never be pushed into an empty pool or
write a bad college essay.
Brendan
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