RE: Teddy's Demise (fourth try)

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Finally realized that my emails aren't going through, solved the problem =
and, for better or worse, here's my email of nearly a week ago (now =
occurring as a belated and deflated response to a topic no longer on the =
table).

Harumph.

As is

oeuf
-----Original Message-----
From:	Hapworth2 [SMTP:Hapworth2@aol.com]
Sent:	Monday, January 19, 1998 8:19 PM
To:	bananafish@lists.nyu.edu
Subject:	Re: Teddy's Demise (fourth try)

In a message dated 98-01-16 13:17:41 EST,   Noah Brewer  wrote:

<< So, for Teddy, this means that the story could push him in, the =
prediction
could be heavy enough.  Maybe.  At least I think it's worth looking at.
Salinger didn't tell us the "truth", exactly.  >>


So what you're saying is that due to the tone, languge, etc., by the end =
of
the story Teddy dies because we want him to?  Because we think 'that is =
what
the story must have been building up to or why would it have been built =
up?'

Noah "I'm not sure if I understand" Brewer


[Byock, Ashley]  Hmmm.  Um, not exactly.  I'm not asserting that Teddy =
dies because we want him to.  However, I am saying that Teddy is =
embedded in a story.  He isn't just some independent guy running around =
with a plot on his tail.  So, yes, the story is kind of running him.  =
But I don't remember asserting that Teddy actually did jump, or that =
that must have happened.  What I meant was that maybe the reason we =
think he did was in large part because of how the plot lead us, with =
anticipation etc..., up to that point.  It's interesting that you took =
this to mean that "we" pushed him in because I think that could almost =
be argued.

I think once it becomes obvious that we don't know for sure exactly what =
happened, when we make decisions about what happened or assertions about =
it, we have to realize that it isn't self-evident so there's some other =
influences on our conclusions.  What are they?  Well, tragic plot =
structure lets us know ahead of time that someone's on their way over =
the cliff in the Oldsmobile or whatever.  So, maybe plot structure, and =
the language Salinger uses, and the discussions that precede the event.

That's the basic thing, I think.  Answer your question at all?  (I hope)

oeuf

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