Subject: Re: Everybody is a Nun
From: Catherine Marie (tangerineness@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Jan 30 2000 - 14:27:07 EST
That was an amazing post. It agrees with a lot of my ideas on things, but I
saw a few other things in it. First of all, the wall between the girl in the
shop and DDS is a glass wall. There is perhaps some relation to the Glass
family, but even more a glass wall seems clear. He thinks he can see through
the wall, and understand her, but he can't, because there is still a wall
even though it seems invisible. He simply cannot know her from those seconds
of contact. It seems to say that in order to break her fall, and help her he
would have to go inside the shop, behind that wall, but he can't. It seems
JDS is saying that we can't really know anyone, or love anyone until there
exists no boundary, no matter how invisible it may seem. I guess that's what
love is. Coming out from behind your walls of safety and meeting at the
corner. Which is dangerous-- when you put too much of yourself out to
someone else, and let your guard (wall) down you can get hurt. But it's the
only way to really love anyone completely. And not loving can hurt worse
than getting hurt from allowing yourself to love someone. Maybe that's why
the girl in the shop falls, because there is a barrior between her and
everyone else that prevents her from loving. I think there are walls like
these throughout Salinger, but I promised myself I would go do all the stuff
I need to do and not start getting books out, so I'll just leave one little
thing. In the bathroom scene with Zooey and Bessie there was something
wonderful about the way they are sharing this space. Although Zooey says he
wants her out, when she does leave he almost wants her back. The walls of
the bathroom are the most private, and that they are able to share it really
shows something beautiful about their communication. Although there is still
a shower curtain in between...
Catherine
>Maybe
>that line "Everyone is a nun" simply means that everyone gets close to god
>(or God) more than they realize, but that, like nuns, we need to realize
>that we can't know god completely, as some people might try to, and see
>that
>we are all students, who can never understand everything, not teachers. I
>am
>being forced off this computer, but hopefully will get a chance to continue
>this later.
>Catherine------------------------------------------
>
>I originaly thought this "Everybody is a nun" was the same type of
>statement
>we find in F&Z and Teddy about everyone being god or holy. I am thinking
>now
>that JDS was saying that everyone is in a cloister or behind a wall. When
>the shop girl starts to fall DDS reaches out to stop her fall and his
>fingers hit the glass.
> he also realizes that she doesn't share his mind, thats why she is
>startled
>by his presence, she has a mind and life seperate from his and doesn't
>really know why he should be standing there looking at her. He realizes the
>same thing about the nun. She knows nothing of his ideas and dreams about
>her, she is living her own life unaware of him. In part this is a
>deliverance from a creeping solipism for DDS.
> The wall theme is present in "For Esme". What does one wall say to the
>other? Meetcha at the corner. without this meeting at the corner we are
>either isolated behind our own wall or just solipisticaly assume that
>anothers experience is the same behind their wall as our own. DDS's
>experience is, I think, a direct seeing of the reality of other selves.
> After re-readind this a few times, DDSBP has moved up in my opinion
>somewhere not too far below "For Esme" my all time favorite.
> Charles's meetcha at the corner is more than a riddle, it's essential
>for real honest communication of the life and soul saving variety.
>
> HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO
>HELLO
>
> HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLO
>HELLO
>
>
>
>Paul M
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Feb 28 2000 - 08:38:02 EST