Subject: Re: It's a Wise Child
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 07:28:20 EST
In a message dated 1/27/00 12:52:48 AM Eastern Standard Time,
JHPAGE@worldnet.att.net writes:
<< I've been wondering lately.. if it was necessary for Salinger to
characterize Seymour as the all acclaimed genius... I mean, necessary to
bring Seymour's greatness\piety\relative meaning across. Was it Salinger's
attempt to tell so many of us that it is impossibe to become a bananafish in
his eyes without this IQ prerequisite? ( I don't want this to sound
ambitious or anything, so don't read it so. ) Or is it just for show, like
a trademark, or property? Anyway, I'd appreciate some feedback. -Jared
>>
Yeah, that's a good question. I've always seen this as part of Salinger's
affinity with Eastern religions. There's a lot of praise for natural
intelligence in there...like it's a prerequisite for some disciplines.
Either that, or its the product of having attained to a certain level, as if
the disciplines freed your mind and made it work properly.
I also think that, apart from any religious association, that these were the
issues Salinger was just struggling with in his fiction -- the "good" or
"exceptional" person in a banal, dull world.
Jim
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