Subject: Daumier-Smith and Empathy
From: Paul Miller (phm@midsouth.rr.com)
Date: Fri Jul 20 2001 - 10:38:43 GMT
I have admired Salinger's "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period" and yet not
really seen the point Salinger was trying to make with the story. Well
recently as the sun sped towards the bridge of my nose I thought by gum I've
got it. I think Daumier-Smith's experience is one of empathy. Below in a
review written for another site I explain further.
"De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period" is one of the stories in "Nine Stories".
Let me put my prejudices on the table pre rather than mid or post review, I
really like this story! In the story Daumier-Smith has an enlightening
experience and afterwards makes the statement "Everybody is a nun". I
originaly thought this "Everybody is a nun" was the same type of statement
we find in Franny & Zooey and Teddy about everyone being holy. I think he is
saying this and more. Salinger was also saying that everyone is a unique
holy person in their cloister or behind their own wall. When the shop girl
in the display window starts to fall Daumier-Smith 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 solipsism for
Daumier-Smith. 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 solipsisticaly assume
that anothers experience is the same behind their wall as our own. I think
Daumier-Smith had an experience of direct seeing of the reality of other
selves, their situations and feelings, an empathic moment. He has a moment
of pure empathy with the shop girl in the window and this empathy changes
him, bringing him out of his self involved world and letting him see others
as they are. We are never told exactly what he experiences ,except his
vision of the sun hurtling towards the bridge of his nose. After the
experience he becomes much more accepting of himself and others, even his
hopeless art students who he had formerly snobbishly judged although
accurately critiqued. There are allusions in this short story to Rilke,
Rodan, Picasso, and of course the French artist Honore Daumier. This is
Salinger's funniest story and it just gets better with each perusal.
Paul Miller
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