Subject: Re:
From: Mark Kuhar (mkuhar@mail.ohio.net)
Date: Wed Mar 05 1997 - 08:15:08 GMT
I am one of those who think that we are trying too hard if we try to link
all of Salinger's stories through the common thread of the Glass universe.
No, I don't think x is either Buddy or Seymour, but I do think Esme and
Bananafish are both variations on the same theme: transcendence from one
state to another as a result of innocence and purity. For whatever reason,
jds is obsessed with examining the way children are smarter than adults,
and how they become the gatekeepers to somewhere else. As well as the "It's
a Wise Child" crowd, you can see it in Sybil, Esme, Lionel, Teddy, Holden
et al. In fact, there's not a child in any one of his stories that doesn't
teach something -- even Booper, although she hasn't been a human being for
too many lives. An interesting exercise would be to list all the of the
children in Salinger's work and figure out exactly what he wants us to
learn from them. The results would probably surprise us. --mark
>hey bananafish-
>
> does anyone else think that x in "For Esme-with Love and Squalor" is
>seymour? if not, might he be buddy? also, if it is seymour, then is esme a
>precursor to the little girl in bananafish? a little subtle foreshadowing
>maybe
>of what was to come?
> think about it-seymour loves muriel's simplicity and naivete. he
>even says
>he needs it (see rhtrc). but does this naivete contrast so sharply with
>his own
>"worldliness" that it drives insane? might the little girl be the straw that
>broke the camel's back? her absolute innocence may have caused seymour so
>much
>painful introspection that he decided it was better to start over with another
>life. (another point--might teddy actually be seymour in his new life?)
>likewise,esme causes x to realize how unbalnced he is. her precocity prevents
>her from evincing the absolute purity that would lead him to hate himself.
>her
>little brother shows this quality of purity, but his reserve prevents x from
>being to deeply wounded by it. that is until the boy returns to kiss him
>goodbye.
> am i just grasping at straws or what?
>
>ms
>
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