Re: quiet
Elizabeth J Respess (ejrespess@juno.com)
Mon, 06 Oct 1997 10:01:12 -0400 (EDT)
>Seymour once said all we ever do our whole lives is go from one little
>piece of Holy ground to the next. Im wondering if this list has moved
>to
>more holy places, sure is quiet.
>
> Paul
hi paul. life gets busy sometimes, doesn't it? i hadn't even read the
last weeks' digest until late night, and i was too exhausted to respond,
but there was a lot i've missed and now i'm afraid all of my responses
will seem belated. which they are. oh well.
some time ago, someone (i'm sorry - i don't remember who just now)
expressed confusion over a story i told about my dad "meeting" salinger.
i probably said something weird like "my dad was introduced to
salinger...". i meant introduced to him as an author, not as a person.
now that would've been a story. sorry for the confusion.
karen, i think you are the one who discussed seymour shooting himself in
front of muriel, as a service to her, so that she could get the attention
and support that she needed. this strikes me as brilliant. although i
personally buy into the "two seymour" theory, if there is only one, this
is the explanation which makes sense to me. people do strange things
when they are depressed. he had the gun in his suitcase, showing it was
premeditated (seymour never seemed to be the gun-toting type). if he had
been planning this, i'm sure he would've agonized a great deal about
making sure muriel would be cared for appropriately. he knew who he was
married to, he had no illusions about her. it's possible that he thought
this experience would awaken her from her world of love feeling like cute
little kittens, but more than likely, she would remain muriel to the
end, just like you suggested.
paul, you seemed to rather vehemently disagree with this explanation,
saying that salinger was trying to show the good, bad, and ugly. i
agree. killing yourself in front of someone who loves you, regardless of
how shallow they may be, is a pretty #$^*&%*& horible thing to do. i
don't imagine that this was a selfless act, but a rationalization.
"logic" sprung from depression can be a dangerous thing.