Re: seymour
randy royal (randyr@mailhub.jaxnet.com)
Mon, 06 Oct 1997 21:34:27 +0000
good stuff. i really did enjoy that old post, it's probably the best
critique aviable for free =)
cya~ randy
> The girl on the beach was just a girl he met, the girl in the room was Murial
> his wife, as a stand alone story, its god, but it is really the cornerstone
> of all the other Glass stories. As to why he killed himself and the
> bananafish analogy, the following message posted several months ago is the
> best answer I've evre seen
>
> <<<I think some of you may be looking too hard for the meaning of Seymour, or
> at
> least looking in the wrong place.
>
> Salinger has told the same story at least three times. Catcher, Bananafish
> and the actual story Seymour tells about the fish are really the same story.
> There might be more, Like Esme, but I haven't thought about it a lot.
>
> The point: Most people are able to see that the world isn't really to be
> dealt with. They are either not able to see that there is so much bad, bad
> stuff (phony, cruel, illogical ..etc.) out there, or they can see it but they
> realize that if you want to be happy and comfortable you better find a way to
> ignore it and work around it. But, there are always some people, or fish, who
> can't manage that. They see-more. They have to take it all in, or swallow so
> many banana's, that they can't let it go. People like that are in for a fall.
> You can't live that way. Holden went crazy. The Fish and Seymour died. And
> Salinger ended up a hermit. It's not an option, and you shouldn't look at
> Seymour's death as a suicide. It's not like Seymour could have chose to
> see-less. Holden's teacher tried to warn Holden of "the fall, Seymour tried
> to warn the little girl at the beach, and I suppose Salinger was trying to
> warn us too with Bananafish.
>
> I don't think you're supposed to look at Muriel as a antagonist. She was just
> there to provide contrast between people like Seymour and everyone else.>>>
>
>
>