Subject: Re: New ending for CITR
From: Jim Rovira (jrovira@drew.edu)
Date: Wed Nov 07 2001 - 21:07:01 GMT
Yes, talk about suicide comes up, but Holden doesn't sound suicidal at
any point, really. He mentions it the way almost anyone at any bad time
may mention it -- and that's light years from the way a real suicide
talks about suicide. There's just nothing about him throughout most of
the novel that sets up a possible suicide. The fact that Salinger
didn't write Holden as a suicide (or attempted suicide) is probably the
most telling fact. I get the feeling that suicide was chosen as an
alternate ending simply because it was more dramatic and Holden was at
least disturbed.
You could argue that Seymour in Bananafish was the same way -- and
that's a criticism of the story. But the suicide is a fact that
Salinger teases us to read back into everything we know about Seymour,
and Seymour's own family (esp. Buddy) seems devoted to that very
project. It's the hing upon which most of the Glass family writings
turns...it's a ripe act. In Holden's case, it would simply be trite.
Jim
Suzanne Morine wrote:
>
> At 03:40 PM 11/4/2001 -0500, Jim Rovira wrote:
> > I think the take-off proceeds from a poor
> >interpretation, I think (of course) that the criticisms he's getting are
> >constructive. Suicide may have been a legitimate possibility for Holden,
> >but I don't really see that as being set up very well in the earlier
> >part (whole rest of) the novel. I think it may have been more
> >appropriate for Holden to die of "exposure" (if he died at all), rather
> >than die playing Russian roulette.
>
> Holden does mention wanting to jump out the window but didn't want other
> people to stand around and look at his gory dead body (p. 104). Also, I
> imagine that he wouldn't want to leave Phoebe without him like he is
> without Allie and he certainly wouldn't want her to witness him killing
> himself. (I haven't read this alternate ending in quite some time, but I
> think that's what he does in it.)
>
> It's striking how often suicide comes up in the novel. It's arguable that
> James Castle chose death over the beating he was getting: a jump out the
> window. (page 170). A guy at a restaurant is telling his date (while
> feeling her up) about a guy who swallowed a bottle of pills, nearly killing
> himself (p. 86). Holden mentions Judas's suicide (p. 100).
>
> Suzanne
> Index to Catcher online at:
> <http://www.geocities.com/exploring_citr/bookindex.htm>
>
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