A Few Pages Of Purely Salinger - Nine Stories

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A Few Pages of Purely Disheartening Cynicism
A canon of the 20th century, J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories is a collection of nine individual short stories that, as a whole, depict the imaginations that dominate and destroy the lives of both children and adults. In these stories, Salinger, a recluse who has ostracized himself from society, attempts to show the rapid deterioration of the societal world as a detrimental ramification of a person’s loss of innocence and humanism, the product of culture’s involuntary but unavoidable embracement of materialism, egocentrism, and emotional attachment. This theme is evident in all nine of the author’s stories, but this critique will concentrate primarily on “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” with a slightly more succinct analysis of “The Laughing Man” and “Teddy” to show the passions and imaginations which control every diminutive action in the protagonists’ lives and ultimately lead to the frustration and disconcertment that is characteristically Salinger.
In discussing the dreams and imaginations of different characters in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, this essay aims to show the author’s cynicism toward the wisdom, knowledge, and culture that is prevalent in today’s way of life. After demonstrating this cynicism with the malformed hopes and dreams of the story’s protagonists, a short comparison will be made with “The Laughing Man” for further clarification. Finally, “Teddy,” the author’s last and most revealing story, should be mentioned as it ends the nine story compilation like an awakening slap in the face, causing a quick gasp and widely opening the reader’s eyes to some of the prevailing but possibly previously unnoticed ideas in the other stories.
SMACK! “Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple” (18). This last sentence of “A Perfect...