Teddy
Alicia Hadley (ahadley@dubbosde.nsw.edu.au)
Wed, 12 May 1999 17:20:37 +1000
Patti wrote : I always thought that Booper pushed Teddy into the
pool.
I agree with you on your point about the pool. Why would an
international cruise liner drain one of their main attractions mid trip
; )
I was reading Teddy last night again after reading discussion on the
topic. And was struck again by the paradox that is Teddy and also
by Salinger's narrative style.
On one side of the coin Teddy is a ten year old child globe trotting
spiritual prodigy. Or is he ? He discusses the forsight that he was
achieved though meditation. . . He observes the world in a matter of
fact way - like the Japanese haikus,(I assume in Japanese they
would be haikus), he gives us about cicadas. And like a good
buddhist doesn't delve into the world of illusion and supposition. He
watches the orange peel float away and reflects upon the whole
notion of being. The if I don't see it happen does it really happen
thing. And yet then he talks about or presupposes his own death in
the pool, an illusion until it actually happens. I'm finding this
paradoxical at the moment. Can anybody help ?
I think its that old sound of one hand clapping thing again.
The other thing I'd like to mention, not having visited Salinger's work
for a while, is again as always I was struck by the moments of
quiet almost zen-like reflection Salinger gives us. (I'd just read
Teddy for the line about the cicadas ). These still lyrical moments
are a nice juxtaposition amongst the usual salinger banter and
action. natsukashii ne
Ja ne
alicia