Re: Focus Question #1 What does phony really mean? (fwd)
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Sat, 31 Oct 1998 16:18:59 +1100
> Salinger begs the
> frustrated to not jump off the cliff and be depressed like him and
> Holden, and he derives happiness from saving us.
Do you think so? One of the things I always liked best about Catcher is
that it didn't really have a message to preach. I can't bear preachy
writing. I've never really interpreted his watching of Phoebe as a kind of
saving, either - I believe instead that he has realised that it is not his
job to be the Catcher in the Rye - as his comment about the children
jumping for the gold rings on the carousel indicates. In Buddhism, this
corresponds to the belief that only by surrendering the assumption of
control can anyone gain redemption.
> If you apply this same
> idea to Franny and Zooey, Seymour, Perfect Day, etc. it always fits.
> Salinger is on the edge, spitting out stories occasionally begging us to
> not be like him, not give in and leave.
That's a very interesting interpretation ... I know Salinger's a
misanthropist, but I don't know that he's the type of guy to discourage
people from being like him (quite a burden to place on yourself and your
own self image apart from anything) - after all, the whole Joyce Maynard
thing broke down basically because she refused to be cut and tailored to
his liking and refused to feel ashamed for wanting to publish a book as he
did. I think Salinger long since ceased talking to real people. Even from
Hapworth you can tell that he writes his writings by, about, and even for -
his own characters
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
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