Subject: Re: suicide / textual
From: Paul Miller (phm@midsouth.rr.com)
Date: Wed Mar 01 2000 - 11:03:38 EST
Jason wrote:
The most important point against this to me is his service
revolver. It symbolizes his acceptence of patriotic duty, that Seymour
has seen the front, that (as will all Vets in my mind) is a hero and
braver than I'll ever be. The service pistol is extremely important. It
purposely shows his connections to duty, bravery, responsibility, and
links him to battle-fatigue (post-tramatic stress disorder / shell shock /
gulf war
syndrome).------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------
It's not a revolver. The handgun is an automatic with a clip. It's not his
service pistol either, the Ortgies calibre 7.65 automatic was not issued as
a service weapon in WW 2.
I do believe however , in the original story Bananafish, that it was the
war that brought on Seymour's difficulties. Sergeant X makes it, Seymour
doesn't, and this all stems from what happened to Salinger in the war that
made him check himself into a hospital over in Europe.
Paul
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