Re: Seymour's suicide


Subject: Re: Seymour's suicide
From: Scout Thompson (one38@one38.org)
Date: Tue May 23 2000 - 14:16:38 GMT


Tania Da Ros wrote:

> "The little girl on the plane/ Who turned her
> doll's head around/ To look at me". I never got this poem, really. Could it
> have something to do with the above? I have no idea.

I've always been of the impression that the poem means that
there was a little girl on the plane, that turned her dolls head
around to look at him.

Haiku- usually- only really reflects a moment of "direct insight"
into nature or psychology (senryu.) For the most part they are
supposed to be snapshots and not ripe with symbolism. Seymour
was more Issa, say, than he was TS Eliot.

Granted, the poem is not five 7 five haiku and is merely "haiku-like"
as I recall from Buddy, but nonetheless; it strikes me that Seymour's
poetry was inspired and based on the same concept of egoless
observation.

Also, the poem is not, really, a "suicide note" but merely a haiku
written as he got off the plane. It's curious as to how far in advance
Seymour knew what he was going to do- did he know with "that incident
with the trees," did he know with the bananafish, or as one friend suggests,
did he not know until the incident in the elevator ("don't look at my god
damned feet.") Did he know, like Teddy, when he wrote Hapworth 16, 1924
from camp? ("It will either happen today or ____ when I am 21. It is silly to
think of, really.") (Thats a loose remembrance of a quote.)

Also it strikes me that in Japan this story would be a story of honor via
Seymours American styled Hara Kiri (a bullet in the head rather than
a sword through the stomach) which as I recall is partly due to the
influence of zen on japanese culture and the strong belief in reincarnation.
Maybe we just don't get it because of our silly Western ways, wrapping our
heads around it looking for logical reasons via Descartes or Hegel or
Chomsky ;) when all in all- like any koan, which frankly, seymours death was,
it cannot be solved by the rational line. It is almost certain to me that
Seymours Suicide is what happens when the truth falls into the tire track,
or the sound of one hand clapping or what have you.

Lets face it- of course Seymour would kill himself!

I would write more but I have got to bake some bread.



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