Re: Cheever and Salinger


Subject: Re: Cheever and Salinger
From: Chris Kubica (ckubica@insightbb.com)
Date: Fri Jun 21 2002 - 14:11:19 EDT


That's beautiful thinking, Midge, if I may say. I never thought about how,
indeed, Sybil's banafish will be able to get out...duh.

Sincerely,

chris kubica
the fm pro, inc.
765-497-2294 (Phone)
425-671-5648 (Fax)

http://members.aol.com/thefmpro/

> From: midge immington <midgeimmington@yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 10:06:45 -0700 (PDT)
> To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> Subject: Re: Cheever and Salinger
>
> Hi!
>
> I'm not saying that six nor 78 per se are symbolic.
> What I think is interesting is that Sybil first says
> re the tigers "only six" in response to Seymour's "so
> many". Then in the bananafish scene, he refers to 78
> as an example of the tragedy of the bananafish getting
> trapped and not being able to get out. When Sybil
> sees the bananafish it is again six. In both cases
> she's offering an opposing view to his. (There is the
> constancy of the child with six.) This bananafish
> will be able to get out--after all, she sees 6 bananas
> not 78. If at one level Seymour is the bananafish, he
> then realizes he will be able to escape his dilemma of
> being trapped--hence the kiss.
>
>
> Bye!
> Midge
>
> --- Jim Rovira <jrovira@drew.edu> wrote:
>> ok, what? What I see is wordplay :). Sybil said
>> she saw six tigers. For
>> that reason, she then said she saw a bananafish with
>> six bananas in her
>> mouth. What does the number do beyond provide a
>> basis for wordplay in
>> Seymour/Sybil's dialog?
>>
>> What, then, is the point of a single bananafish
>> eating as many as "78"
>> bananas? Rather than running to a Kabbalistic
>> interpretation of 78, common
>> sense tells me that everyone's just pulling numbers
>> out of their heads :).
>>
>> There's no point is saying "it has to mean
>> something" unless you can say
>> what that something is, and give specific reasons
>> for linking that specific
>> something to Salinger or the story.
>>
>> It's not enough to just say that Salinger read a
>> source. He read a lot
>> :). That doesn't mean everything he read influenced
>> every story he wrote.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> midge immington wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim Rovira <jrovira@drew.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> My point was not that the number was
>> absolutely insignificant,
>>> but we need
>>> to consider the possibility that it may be.
>> And that, if we are
>>> going to
>>> make associations, they can't be random or
>> simply guided by our
>>> own
>>> imagination -- Salinger himself would have to
>> give us reasons
>>> for that
>>> association. Sticking to the context of the
>> story, the number 6
>>> doesn't
>>> seem to recur, so it's not given any
>> significance that way.
>>>
>>> ***
>>> Hi!
>>>
>>> "I thought they'd never stop. I never saw so
>> many tigers."
>>>
>>> "There were only six," Sybil said.
>>>
>>> "*Only* six!" said the young man. "Do you
>> call that *only*?"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [two pages later Seymour says]:
>>>
>>> "Why, I've known some bananafish to swim into
>> a banana hole and
>>> eat as many as seventy-eight bananas."
>>>
>>> [next page]:
>>>
>>> "I just saw one."
>>>
>>> "Saw what, my love?"
>>>
>>> "A bananafish."
>>>
>>> "My God, no!" said the young man. "Did he
>> have any bananas in
>>> his mouth?"
>>>
>>> "Yes," said Sybil. "Six."
>>>
>>> The young man suddenly picked up one of
>> Sybil's wet feet, which
>>> were drooping over the end of the float, and
>> kissed the arch.
>>>
>>> ***
>>>
>>> Something's going on!
>>>
>>> --Midge
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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