Re: The Inverted Forest

You once mentioned the Oedipal/mommie-dearest theme a la Bessie and Zooey
and also Seymour and women in general. Raymond Ford is no exception here. I
think this story is a great example of how Salinger gives us characters with
so much potential but little actual value to the world. What does one guy
say about Ford? "He is Blake, Rilke and Whitman all in one" or something
like that. It is similar to Buddy's claim Seymour will rank among the great
poets. However the line "not a wastland but an inverted forest/ with all the
foliage underground" is alot beter than John Keats John Keats/ John Please
put your scarf on.
If I remember the end of the story the genius ends up being a let-down and
this is mostly due to his twisted relationship with his mother and more
importantly for Salinger's theme, an inability to find beauty in the vapid
life he chose to live.

-ADS

>It should probably be retitled, "Portrait of the Artist as a Screwed-Up
>Guy."
>
>woo. What a read. Why he didn't republish it, I don't know. I'd much
>rather see that in a book than "Hapworth." It certainly provides fodder
>for those wanting to draw parallels between Salinger and his characters,
>right or wrong, though -- may contribute to it. The "Murielish" character
>is actually treated sympathetically and presented as a victim of her love
>for the poet and his emotional...problems, however you want to define them.
> It's said he's gone "cold inside."
>
>Jim
>
>-
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Received on Mon Mar 17 19:21:28 2003