Subject: Re: Cheever and Salinger
From: midge immington (midgeimmington@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jun 21 2002 - 13:06:45 EDT
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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