Re: Franny's demise.
Jake McHenry (seymour@ktis.net)
Tue, 23 Mar 1999 17:00:53 -0600
Sorry if the proposition of Franny being pregnant bothers you so much. (And
before I get any further into it I would like to interject that I was only
mentioning it in order to have some sort of wordflow and not because I
thought she was pregnant or not.) Truth be told, I don't really know one way
or the other. Surely we are expected to believe (as I do believe) that
Franny is delving into the Jesus prayer and is having some sort of problem
with it. (Or because of it.) Good old Zooey picks right up on it and, in
perfect form, lays into her about all of the downsides to the prayer and all
that it commands/demands. And Zooey is completely correct. So if Franny were
not pregnant then she was just at some sort of monstrous impasse and simply
hit the proverbial wall. (Spiritually and in turn emotionally and
physically.) And I can buy that. Maybe I would only lend any credibility to
the pregnancy theory because I just cannot for the life of me think of
myself in those super-heavy spiritual shoes. Wrestling with God and the
Universe and the rest is, perhaps, the toughest struggle that we could
possibly engage in. (God forbid we should have brothers like Buddy and
Seymour tearing us up for good or for bad.) And I am quite sure that any
number of us has been blown out of the water by a book or idea or ideal or
notion (philosophical, theological, or otherwise). But, again, I think that
I cannot see myself there and maybe, out of an odd jealousy?, I secretly
WANT her to be pregnant. That way I would not feel so bad about being a
"spiritual heel". (And this sort of brings to mind some factions of people
getting pissed off that others are somehow blessed with an ability to speak
in tongues and they are not.) I just know that I don't have what it takes to
go all the way. (Or at least as far as Franny dared.) And I just don't know
if I would even want to be sick at my stomach over Jesus or anyone else.
(But this will all change in 30 minutes anyway. I am flighty that way.)
Also, please keep in mind that I am no real writer and just a simple fan of
Salinger's work. I am a lowbrow of the highest order. Please be kind.
Hope all is well for the lot of you. Solid handshakes for you all.
(And what about that movie with Mel Gibson? He had an embarrassment of
Catcher copies. Did you guys hit on that one already?)
-Jake McHenry
-----Original Message-----
From: MEPIERCE <mepierce@sfasu.edu>
To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu <bananafish@lists.nyu.edu>
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: Franny's demise.
Jake McHenry wrote:
>
> So is there any sort of collected opinion regarding Franny's situation.
> (Emotional and physical.) A friend of mine (we all have one like her)
cannot
> believe that Franny was not pregnant based on the way she was acting.
>
I strongly disagree with your friend. Only the symptoms you mention
refer to a possible pregnancy. Nothing else in the story points to this
scenario. Why can't readers accept that her spiritual angst promts her
fainting and vomiting? For those in just such a crises--those who are
fed up with section-men and loathsome little frat toads like Lane--those
who feel like lone pilgrims looking for hope among the chaos and
vacuousness (is that a word? i hope it's a word--it's a damn good
one)--for those persons, Franny's physical demise does not need a
biological explanation.
--
M.E. Pierce
Dept. of English, SFASU
http://TITAN.SFASU.EDU/~f_pierceme/
"Are you a nobody too?" --The Belle of Amherst