Re: The Inverted Forest

Yep, what you said about Buddy is what I was trying to point out about
Warner in "Inverted Forest." He wasn't exactly a disinterested observer
-- he was in love with Ford's wife himself; he told her that much
himself when he was telling her not to marry Ford. That makes "Inverted
Forest" a motivated narrative by someone tangentially related to the
events...one open to questioning...rather than the product of an
imaginary omniscient narrator standing like "the God of the creation"
aside from his/her work.

This makes the story more interesting to me, more realistic.

I'm not quite sure what to make of your opinion of the contrast I'm
drawing between the Seymour of B-fish and Seymour Glass -- you seem to
be a bit back and forth. You admit it's difficult to understand why
Seymour would "throw all of that away" (the love and respect he had from
the rest of his family) by killing himself, but take issue with me
saying I fail to see why Seymour would commit suicide (reincarnation
should have nothing to do with this decision -- desire for a better
reincarnation should motivate Seymour not to kill himself).

I think you're saying that the Seymour in RHTRBC is quite possibly a
suicide. It's been awhile since I've read it, but if I remember right
it describes Seymour's wedding day or around that time, right? So
Salinger was writing a Seymour just a few short days or weeks before he
killed himself. I can't really respond without taking a look at the
story again.

Jim

Hester wrote:

>Shouldn't we take into consideration Buddy's concession that his family
>accused him of putting too much of himself in the Seymour of Bananafish?
>But it is also understandable to think that the Seymour on the last day
>of his life was drastically different than the Seymour of his younger
>days. As much as we love him for his intellectual capacity and the
>great respect that he commanded within his family, it's difficult to
>believe that he would throw all of that away. I would beg to differ on
>your point about there being little to see why Seymour would commit
>suicide (Aside from the fact that he purpotedly believes in
>reincarnation). The Seymour presented in Raise High is arguably the
>most tragic and saddest of all of his portrayals. It is also the most
>significant because it is the only place (among the stories published in
>book form) that we see Seymour's words "untainted" by Buddy's voice,
>through Seymour's diary. The Seymour in the diary is hardly happy
>despite his "I'm a paranoiac in reverse" statement. Doesn't the Seymour
>in Raise High give somewhat more credibility to the Seymour presented in
>Bananafish?
>
>Hester
>

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Received on Wed Mar 19 10:36:50 2003