The catcher in the rye (set-phrases and idioms)
(27) to be touchy about smth
(29) to ostracize smb
(41) to shift into first gear
(44) to get on one’s nerves
(44) to take a hint
(45) to be in the mood
(45) to make oneself at home
(47) to keep tabs on smth
(49) to chew the rag with smb (=to chew the fat)
(50) to do smb a favour
(52) to be through with smb
(55) to get smb off one’s mind
(59) to be left-handed
(74) to adapt oneself to smth = to adjust oneself to
(75) the unanimous choice
(80) to take turns
(87) I don’t hold it against you.
(90) to commit suicide
(98) to let it drop
(113) to let smb down
(113) to see eye to eye with smb
(118) to get a word in edgewise (edgeways)
(120) a light eater; a heavy smoker, etc
(120) to give smb a hand
(120) to get (have) an inferiority complex about smth
(122) to swing the conversation around to general topics
(131) to give smb the creeps
(135) in the same breath
(136) to show off
(139) out of a clear blue sky
(141) to be in bad shape
(143) to hit the ceiling
(149) (in front of) a firing squad
(150) to show up
(154) to run the whole thing = to run the whole show
(155) It’s up to you.
(159) to hit the sack
(160) to feel blue
(174) to squeal on smb
(181) to get rid of
(181) to have a splitting headache
(182) I’m broke.
(183) to keep in touch with
(186) to stick to the point
(188) in public
(189) to ride for a fall
J. D. Salinger a perfect day for bananafish
The aim of the lesson is to teach you to see the details that help the author to intensify the dramatic effect and to evaluate the philosophical background of the story.
1. Some critics consider that Salinger wrote his Nine Stories within the paradigm of traditional Indian poetics, one of the main conceptions of which is that the genuine value of a literary work consists in the implications created by associations a word gives rise to. Only a person whose soul retains some memories of the previous reincarnations can fully appreciate the concealed meaning – dhvani. The highest point of dhvani was to instil a poetic mood (rasa). The wise men of India singled out nine poetic moods arranged in the following order:
Eros, love
laughter, irony
compassion
wrath
courage
fear
disgust
revelation
composure, leading to renunciation of the world
Thus, the first story of the collection embodies the first rasa.
Does the idea seem strange to you? What was your first impression of the story?
2. The story consists of three parts, the tragic outcome taking place only at the end of the last one.
Does the end come as a shock? Provide a short summary of the story laying stress on those details that make it possible for the reader to suspect to some extent that the outcome may be tragic.
3. If there’s one thing Salinger has inherited from Dickens, it is, first and foremost, his hatred for mercenary calculating practicality, and his nostalgia for childlike sincerity and power of imagination. Children are nearly always serious to him. That’s why his rebels - the aliens in a hostile world - are always attracted by children.
Is Seymour Glass a good judge of children’s psychology? Do they both - Seymour and Sybil - enjoy their companionship?
4. The most distinctive aspect of Salinger’s humour is its invariable effect of intensifying poignancy and even horror. While going up in the lift, the young man suspects one of his fellow-passengers of scrutinizing his feet, which certainly sounds funny. In less than a brief page the young man is dead. The close juxtaposition of these two passages, the one a height in comic incongruity, the other a depth in tragic action, works a unique effect. The comic element intensifies the tragic. It is this poignancy which characterizes Salinger’s humour that catches in the throat, that accompanies all of his laughs.
Give instances of humorous episodes, or cues, or minor details of behaviour, and explain whether they intensify the dramatic effect.
5. “Salinger makes a kind of poetry of the raw materials of our speech. He uses with great skill the very American device of conveying meaning by describing object, gesture, action. In other words, his people are wholly present in everything they say and everything they do. He can create this kind of poetry on the simplest occasion, as for instance, when an ordinary girl is waiting for a long-distance call ...” (J.B.Miller)
Speak of Salinger’s unmistakable ear for idiom (=the way in which one’s individuality is revealed through his manner of speech) and his eye for characterizing detail.
6. Explain the symbolic value of the following details (you may speak about some others) viewed against the background of Hindu tradition:
bananafish
the blue colour
the figures ‘6’ and ‘78’
7. How can you account for Seymour’s suicide? Is it an act of despair? cowardice? courage? …?
8
.
What brings the story close to “The
Catcher in the Rye” and in
what way does it differ from the novel?
Home task. Render the following piece into English: