Re: Quiet list? there's always

Cheryl Cline (ccline@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Tue, 30 Jun 1998 19:22:58 -0700 

StupiesCuz@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Just a suggestion, I know we don't know much about Salinger's personal life,
> but I believe I have read he has been hospitalized for psychological reasons.
> I tend to think that Seymour is Salinger's way of expressing himself  (compare
> the numerous symbols and possibilities from A Perfect Day for Bananafish). As
> well as Seymour, I think Salinger expressed himself through Holden, and that
> suggests to me, that the ending of TCitR, if you would consider it a
> breakdown, was definitely psychological. But that's just my opinion, and I
> would be even amazed if anyone were to agree.
> 
> -Olga-


I didn't realize that Salinger had psychological problems, but that
would explain a lot.  After all, both Franny Glass and Holden have
breakdowns.  I've also always believed that Salinger was expressing
himself through Holden.

What confuses me is that both Holden and Franny seem to work out their
problems by the end of the book, while the real-life Salinger seems to
have simply retreated from it all.  Holden, for example, ranted about
moving to the mountains with a deaf-mute so he wouldn't have to be
involved in conversations anymore, but by the end of the novel, I think
we can safely assume that Holden has given up on that idea.  Both Holden
and Franny supposedly stop damning the world and judging people
absolutely by the end of each of their stories-Zooey lectures Franny
about mocking the professor with messed-up hair, and Holden questions
whether Mr. Antolini was being "flitty"-a judgment Holden probably
wouldn't have bothered to rethink earlier in the novel.  Holden also
concedes that you can't rub out all the Fuck-yous in the world, which
suggests a kind of acceptance on Holden's part.  From what I've gathered
by reading the bananafish posts, Salinger is in hiding with his wife. 
It doesn't sound like he's accepted the stupidity of humanity all that
much, for all that his characters seem to.

Cheryl