6/12/2023 0 Comments Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger![]() ![]() ![]() Nine Stories can be interpreted as a collective burst of reaction to World War II, in which Salinger fought. As in Teddy’s references to cicadas and Seymour’s story of the bananafish, Salinger seems to be commenting on the fragility of all life. Esme’s father has died, as has the narrator’s mother in “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period.” Death creeps around the edges of the stories, rarely taking central stage but appearing frequently enough that it casts a pall over the proceedings. Eloise’s true love, Walt, was killed in World War II, in “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut.” The Laughing Man dies, as do his adversaries and his best friend, Black Wing. While “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and “ Teddy” are the most clearly morbid of the book’s entries, death pops up again and again in various guises throughout. Nine Stories begins and ends with death (or at least the suggestion of death). ![]()
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