Re: Muriel
ZGlass9@aol.com
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 20:56:49 -0500 (EST)
In a message dated 11/28/1999 2:59:44 PM Central Standard Time,
tim@roughdraft.org writes:
<< I hope we can get some of the more shy people to join in. Very few
-- perhaps only one -- of us can claim to be Salinger scholars. We
are readers. And we talk about what we read. So, talk some. Your
comments are welcome! >>
So be it. I shall contribute (as I wince in fear of being shot down). I see
most (if not all) of Salinger's works as a view between the relationships of
people. In CITR, we see how Holden despises how people treat each other. In
RHTRBC we see how Seymour and Muriel's relationship affects others
(especially in the limousine). So on and so on.
In A Perfect Day, Muriel's and Seymour's relationship is put under the
microscope (in the first have with the telephone conversation). The most
prevalent thing, however, in A Perfect Day (I think) is how different Muriel
is from Seymour. She sort of represents the more conformed (normal?) section
of society. We then see Seymour (eccentric, enlightened) (cursed by the
enlightenment?) relating with Sybil (innocent). Even though Sybil is young,
she is still eccentric (simply due to the fact of her being a small child).
Muriel is the only one that has normal relations with other people, she might
be (in fact), a generic product of society which Seymour is anything but.
That is why, I think, that people sometimes look down upon Muriel. Oh well...
...andrew