J. D. Salinger: Nine Stories

Contents

A Perfect Day for Bananafish… A+

Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut… A

Just Before the War with the Eskimos… A

The Laughing Man… F

Down at the Dinghy… D

For Esme- with Love and Squalor… B

Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes… C

De Daumier- Smith's Blue Period… C

Teddy… C

A Perfect Day for Bananafish… A+

            A Perfect Day for Bananafish masterfully weaves together dialogue and ambiguities around the central character, Seymour Glass, to produce an unforgettable short story. The story is mostly told through conversations and brief actions in-between the dialogue. Characters' backgrounds as well as traits are revealed mostly from conversations. The phone call between Muriel and her mother, reveals that Seymour was released from an Army hospital and may lose self-control. The two women hint at strange events, but further details are left for the reader to imagine. After their phone call, the story turns to Seymour on the beach with a little girl named Sybil.

            From the phone call, I expected Seymour to be a freak, but he acts kindly towards Sybil. He wears a bathrobe on the beach which shows he is out of place, yet the two hold an interesting conversation. It is only when a conversation between Seymour and the woman in the elevator takes place that the reader sees a problem. Seymour returns to his hotel room where Muriel is sleeping and shoots himself. These three scenes move too rapidly for the reader to have a break in order to think.

            Immediately, I was left in shock with the question, 'Why did he kill himself?' bouncing around in my head after I finished reading. I re-read the conversations and actions, to see if I could understand why Seymour commits suicide. The dialogue hints at reasons, but only the characters within the story know most of the details. The mystery around Seymour makes this short story linger in the reader's mind. Salinger cleverly sets the mood of the story by sharing Seymour's problem revealed in the phone call. He then constructs an innocent scene that no one would expect a suicidal man to to participate in before killing himself.

            The story teases readers by inviting them into a complex home just to have them wait at the door. We desperately want to know every detail, however Salinger builds walls to keep us intrigued. I highly recommend this story for publication because the characters stay with you long after you stop reading.

Just before the War with the Eskimos… A

            Just before the War with the Eskimos lacks action, but the odd conversations between the characters make up for it. The beginning of the story appears normal enough when a small disagreement happens between two teenage girls over money. While Ginnie waits for Selena's money, she engages with Franklin, Selena's brother. I found their conversations entertaining and felt as though each line could be taken in several ways. Salinger provides more background information in this story than others, still the reader is made to read actively. From the dialogue, the reader can see each character's view on life as well as their hang ups. Franklin judges people harshly just as how the Army and Ginnie's sister judged and rejected him. Ginnie is judgmental as well, but also appears to be the normal. Their speech and actions seem realistic, allowing the reader to feel a part of the story.

            My favorite part of this story centers around the chicken sandwich. When visiting someone at home, a family member is bound to to try and convince you to eat or drink something. Franklin forces Ginnie to take a sandwich despite her refusal. This action mirrors real life and leads to a scene that caused me to rethink the whole story. At the end, Ginnie decides not to take the money and states she may come over. She leaves the apartment and almost throws away the sandwich. This action reminds her of when she kept a dead chick in her pocket for three days. At first, I thought she was normal, however by the end, I felt unsure of everything I had read. What kind of weirdo keeps a dead animal in their pocket for three days? The ending caused me to re-read the story with new eyes.

            This story is similar to A Perfect Day for Bananafish in the surprising ending, but handles characters' backgrounds differently. There are no real hints that Ginnie is odd in the beginning, causing the ending to grab the reader by surprise. Ginnie's wish to return to the apartment and the chick memory can be taken in different ways. Both actions raise questions as to what kind of a character she truly is. The reader is left to ponder her motives and wonder what actions will happen next. I adore the characters in this story and the ending won over my heart. I highly recommend this to be published.

The Laughing Man…F

            The Laughing Man is my least favorite story in Salinger's Nine Stories. None of Salinger's qualities that I admire appear in this short story. The narrator recounts a part of his childhood and the Laughing Man story he heard while in the Comanche Club. When the narrator does not retell the Laughing Man tale, he discusses the club's leader, called Chief, and his girlfriend. Although I connect to the narrator, the other characters feel flat to me. I had to force myself to read this story because nothing unique caught my eye. The odd conversations and ambiguities found in the other stories are replaced by a long summary of Chief's story. Chief's story about the Laughing Man bored me even though it deals with fantasy. I can see why it would entertain little boys, but it lacked Salinger's individuality.

            The story within a story disappointed me. I can understand that the Laughing Man mirrors Chief's life because the Laughing Man dies the night Chief and Mary seem to break up. It would be a wonderful comparison if I cared for Chief's character. Usually Salinger's characters standout because of their unusual tendencies. Most characters are affected by the war one way or the other. Chief seems to be a regular man that the children he watches have made into a hero. He has an interesting imagination, although it failed to interest me. The break up between Chief and Mary causes the Laughing Man stories to end for the children. The narrator does not understand the heartbreak associated with a failed relationship, but feels broken when Chief kills the Laughing Man. Both characters lose something they care about and it is hinted Mary may be pregnant.

            Salinger suggests Mary's pregnancy is the reason that their relationship ends. Though I would usually enjoy this ambiguity, it failed to interest me. I felt no real connection with Mary and Chief, therefore her pregnancy hardly fazed me. I was only interested in Mary when she told the narrator to leave her alone. The nine-year-old narrator only notices the tension between the two. There was no strong sense of yearning in this story or any reason to make me want to read the next page. I was hoping there would be a strange ending similar to the other stories, but even the ending fell short. After reading the short story, it did not linger in my mind. I would not recommend this story for publication.

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