To the frustrated student...
Jon Tveite (jontv@ksu.edu)
Fri, 29 May 1998 09:17:35 -0500
If you are concerned about "showing up" your teacher in front of the
class, why don't you approach him before or after class and ask him to
explain what he means in more detail? Or leave him a polite, well
written note -- signed or anonymous. Or send him some e-mail. I think
it would be a real shame if you missed out on this chance to exchange
ideas on the subject. From the way it sounds, it would probably do him
as much good as it would you -- not to mention all the students that
will come after you. So please try to question him further in some
way. He might even surprise you and be happy to open a dialogue with
his students. So many high school students just take up space in the
classroom and show no interest in ideas. If you ask him respectfully I
don't see how he could blow you off.
As for CATCHER IN THE RYE, I don't think it has nearly as much to say
about Eastern philosophy as the later work. One theory I've put forward
on this listserv before is that CATCHER may dramatize the frustration
Salinger experienced in trying to find a spiritual base in Western
culture -- in other words, CATCHER reflects the void that Vedantic
Hinduism and Zen Buddhism eventually filled, for its author. The novel
does concern itself, however, with certain obsessions that carry
throughout Salinger's oeuvre -- childhood innocence, for example -- and
which eventually dovetail with the religious themes, but nothing is
spelled out very clearly, in my opinion.
Rather, Salinger begins wearing his Eastern influences very much on his
sleeve with "Teddy," a story that reads more like an introduction to
Eastern thought than a story, and which must have been written in the
same general time period as CATCHER's final drafts. For whomever was
asking about the Old Testament in Salinger, "Teddy" would be a good
place to look: what Salinger does is basically retell the story of
Original Sin from a Vedantic perspective -- e.g. all that stuff about
coughing up the apple of knowledge, and how children shouldn't be made
to focus on learning the differences between things. This rereading of
Genesis reminds me very much, come to think of it, of Joseph Campbell's
work in interpreting the great myths of different cultures. I wonder if
Campbell and Salinger ever had any contact with or influence on each
other, both living in post-war New York. Does anyone know, or know how
to find out?
Parting shot: I'm very glad that Zen doesn't make a conspicuous
appearance in CATCHER, actually. I think it could have ruined the novel
-- especially if it had been presented so overtly as in "Teddy." But
great novelists make great artistic decisions, and Salinger must have
known how unsatisfying and dishonest it would have been to offer Zen as
a quick fix for Holden's spiritual malaise.
Jon
PS: Speaking of the Old Testament, I just got a flash vision of Holden
as a would-be Moses-figure. He's been to the mountaintop (i.e. realized
that he's losing his childhood innocence), and now the best thing he
think to do is come back and prevent other children from running off
that same cliff (i.e. losing innocence too early or by dangerous
means). I dunno -- just a thought.