Will, or rather will, writes: >In this story, catcher, and some unpublished work, salinger seems to link >how a hat is postioned on one's head to sensibilities of awareness... I am sure you recalled Sergeant X's comment that he had his own peculiar way of wearing his hat, "slightly down over both ears". For my part, I am always averse to symbolism and prefer to see an unadjusted or ill fitting hat as an effective way of making a character look out of synch with fashion. Perhaps the wearer is trying to affect a stylish look, or being forced to conform (as with a uniform) yet comes out slightly pathetic (as my older sister said quite a few years ago, when she greeted me in my new fedora "you look like a little boy dressing up in his father's hat"). It is not surprising that someone whose fashion awareness is underdeveloped would have his other f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s more advanced. all the best, Mattis