Notes on J.D. Salinger and Catcher in the Rye

Salinger and His Relationship to Women and Intimacy

• Salinger's attraction to younger women:
  • The transcript addresses the controversial aspect of Salinger's personal life: namely, his attraction to younger women
  • The intention is not to condone this behavior but to explore its potential significance.
  • The question is posed: Why did he prefer the company of younger women?
  • What did he value in their perspective and what did they offer?
• Theme of innocence:
  • A key theme in Catcher in the Rye is the protection of innocence, childhood, and naiveté.
  • Salinger seemed to seek out and value these qualities.
  • He wanted to preserve the innocence and joy that young people possess before being burdened by the traumas of adulthood, particularly the trauma he experienced during his coming-of-age.
• Relationship with his mother:
  • His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps.
  • His mother constantly supported him in his writing endeavors.
  • He dedicated Catcher in the Rye to her.
• Una O'Neill:
  • Salinger's first "true love."
  • He saw her as a realist and pragmatist, not fake or phony.
  • Important to both Salinger and Holden Caulfield.
  • Salinger professed his love to her while in the army, but she moved to Hollywood and never answered his letters.
  • Una married Charlie Chaplin (who was 53 going on 54) on her 18th birthday.
  • Salinger found out through headlines and other people.

Salinger in World War II

• Enlistment and Combat:
  • Salinger was on the cusp of turning 21 or 22 when the U.S. became involved in World War II.
  • He was initially rejected when he tried to enlist but persisted by writing letters until he was accepted.
  • His first day of combat was D-Day, storming the beaches of Normandy, where half of his friends from training died.
  • He served for 299 consecutive days on the battlefield, far beyond the 200-day mark when many people lose their sanity.
• Impact on Writing:
  • The horrors and atrocities he witnessed during World War II significantly influenced the style and underlying message of Catcher in the Rye.
  • He carried the first six chapters of Catcher in the Rye in his pocket while storming the beaches of Normandy and actively wrote the novel during the war.
• Counterintelligence Corps:
  • Salinger was part of the counterintelligence corps.
  • Needed to be skilled at gathering information from strangers.
  • Felt responsible for the lives of those around him because the information he gathered could mean life or death for his friends.
  • His friends commented that they always had to stop for Salinger to work on his short stories or his novel.

Salinger and the Press/Literary Works

• The New Yorker:
  • His primary goal was to be published by The New Yorker, aspiring to become their theater critic.
  • The New Yorker was considered the most prestigious literary magazine due to its high rejection rate.
  • Salinger faced years of rejection from The New Yorker.
  • The first story The New Yorker published featured Holden Caulfield.
  • Salinger already considered Holden a version of himself before Catcher in the Rye.
  • He took criticism of Holden Caulfield personally because he invested so much of himself in the character.
• Rejection and Persistence:
  • Early responses from The New Yorker were rejections
  • One rejection read, "It would have worked out better for us if mister Salinger had not strained so for cleverness."
  • Another wrote, "We think mister Salinger is a very talented young man and wish to God you could get him to write simply and naturally."
  • Salinger told Walkup Gibbs that The New Yorker didn't publish major short stories and that they were too tiny.
  • He believed they were wrong and that they would eventually catch up to his style.
• Delayed Publication:
  • The New Yorker accepted a story, but World War II broke out before it could be published.
  • The story was shelved because it seemed trivial given the circumstances, infuriating Salinger.
• A Perfect Day for Banana Fish
  • One of the clearest examples of Salinger dealing with the effects of World War II.
  • Tells the story of a veteran talking with a young girl and then killing himself.
• Control Over His Work:
  • Salinger's number one goal was control over his work.
  • This was whether it was published or unpublished, and meant to be read or not meant to be read.
  • He lost relationships and friendships over minor details like commas and title adjustments.

Salinger and His Relationship with Celebrity

• Initial Sociability:
  • Initially, Salinger was comfortable with celebrity, being a socialite and participating in the social scene.
• Post-Catcher in the Rye Reclusiveness:
  • After the success of Catcher in the Rye, he became reclusive and sought privacy and isolation.
  • He retreated to a rural area, six miles from any major road, yet people still sought him out.
  • The question is posed: Why did he choose to stay out of the spotlight after everything he had experienced?
• Fixation and Idolization:
  • Catcher in the Rye caused a high level of fixation among its audience, particularly young men, who identified with the book.
  • Mark Chapman, who shot John Lennon, was fixated on the book and modeled his life on Holden Caulfield.
  • Chapman thought the book was telling him to kill John Lennon.
  • The danger of idolizing Salinger and his work led some people to overbearing behaviors.
    Lacey Fosburgh Interview
    *Salinger reached out to Lacey Fosburgh of the New York Times because of pirated editions of his uncollected short stories.
    *Reclusivity was a great public relations device.
    *The conversation lasted for half an hour.
    *During the conversation, Selinger mentioned that he didn't have any intention of publishing.

Other key points

• Early Life and Influences:
  • Salinger was kicked out of boarding schools and ended up in military school, a key parallel to Holden Caulfield.
  • His father did not want him to become a writer but wanted him to join the family cheese mongering business.
  • He enrolled in Whit Burnett's short story class at Columbia, which was a very important move.
  • Whit Burnett was editor of Story Magazine, which published the early work of many American writers.
  • Based on Burnett's encouragement, Salinger wrote a story called "The Young Folks," which Burnett accepted.
• First Marriage:
  • Married a woman named Solya, who was reported to have been a member of the Nazi party, about six months after the end of World War II.
  • He took an enormous risk because soldiers were not allowed to marry German nationals.
  • His father was best man.
  • Salinger and Solya separated less than a month after returning to the States, and the marriage was annulled.
    The influence of being a soldier
    *For a soldier like Salinger walking into a camp, there was a stillness and a craziness to it. They were caught off guard.
    *Salinger met Solya at the Kankenlager.
    *William Maxwell and *The New Yorker*
    *Maxwell said Salinger was very specific and careful.
    *Maxwell told the story of a proofreader finding an extra spot for a comma and Salinger being melancholy about it.