Re: Seymour's death-- See better, Lear!
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Wed, 18 Nov 1998 13:40:46 +1100
> > He glanced at the girl lying asleep on one of the twin beds. Then he
> > went over to one of the pieces of luggage, opened it, and from under a
> > pile of shorts and undershirts he took out an Ortgies calibre 7.65
> > automatic. He released the magazine, looked at it, then reinserted it.
> > He cocked the piece. Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied
> > twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet
> > through his right temple."
>
>
> > Both the syntax
> > and the diction unmistakably suggest that "the girl" is the target.
I think we're all selling Salinger a little short here. Of *course* we're
supposed to think that Muriel is about to get shot! Of *course* it comes as
a surprise when Seymour shoots himself instead! Ever heard of the red
herring ??? Salinger rarely does things for no reason,; he is always a
meticulous craftsperson, too. He's not blundering around in the dark. He
*knows* what he's doing to us here. The reason it may seem that Muriel was
Seymour's intended target is because that's exactly what he wanted us to
think - what kind of dull story would it have been if we'd known what he
was up to all along?
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest