Remembering Salinger

I remember reaching the last line of the story and staring at the page in shock as I read the words. I was 15, and I’d never been confronted with such a blunt, stark conclusion to a seemingly benign narrative.

It was Grade 10 English class, and Mr. Humphrey had asked us to read J.D. Salinger’s A Perfect Day for Bananafish. Although we’d all been relatively silent while reading through the 15-page short story, I felt a hush fall across the room as my peers and I each reached that last line. It was unexpected, disturbing – changed everything. I was officially fascinated with J.D. Salinger, and the conversation that followed in that class only deepened my curiosity about the author, his writing style, his message.

“What does this ending mean?” Mr. Humphrey asked us, a room full of thoughtful teenagers. “What does this tell us about Seymour, and about Salinger?”

I shyly raised my hand, convinced that I had at least a partial answer but unsure of my ability to properly articulate my analysis.

“Seymour sees an innocence in the child’s life that doesn’t exist in adulthood,” I stammered. “On the trip, he realizes that there will always be an impassable divide between the child’s world and the adult’s world. That innocence no longer exists in his life and he can’t pretend to possess it. So he decides that he would rather end his life than live in a world devoid of innocence.”

Mr. Humphrey nodded. “Congratulations,” he said. “You have just figured out J.D. Salinger.”

It was those words, that vote of confidence, that sparked my initial interest in becoming a full-time student of English literature – first as an undergrad, and later as a graduate student. That day, I realized the sheer power of words and the palpable impact they can have on minds young and old. That young students like myself could be altered, even imperceptibly but always significantly, through the art of storytelling.

On January 27, 2010, the brilliant author J.D. Salinger passed away at the age of 91. Every time I look back on my formal education as a student of English literature, which continues in the form of a lifelong devotion to the study and appreciation of good books, I will think of Salinger and his bananafish and feel thankful.