J. D. Salinger_ A Life - Kenneth Slawenski [176]
In the past, Salinger had sought to make his work exacting by using the tenets of The New Yorker as a guideline to perfection. By 1959, he was beginning to perceive the difference between perfection and the clinical flawlessness that The New Yorker demanded. He believed the difference to be a spiritual one. Salinger’s words to Judge Hand reiterate his 1956 conviction that the subjects of his writings were not his to choose; they were the inspiration of God. Like Franny in the novella “Zooey,” who was said by her brother to be “God’s actress,” Salinger now viewed himself as being God’s author. And just as Buddy Glass was obliged to share the inspiration of Seymour’s poetry with the world, Salinger felt obliged to share the beauty of his own personal revelation—delivered with steadfast love through the characters that now absorbed him completely. He may well have considered “Seymour—an Introduction” not as a story to be systematically crafted but as divine inspiration flowing in accordance with a freedom that only faith can provide, the same faith with which Seymour Glass rode the handlebars of Joe Jackson’s nickel-plated bicycle. And here is the true source of Buddy’s happiness: the delivery of inspiration freed him from the rules of conventional literature. The final arbiter of “Seymour” was not The New Yorker, the critics, or even readers. It was God Himself.
That is the revelation of Buddy Glass in “Seymour—an Introduction.” The obligation of an author is to his inspiration alone, to his stars, and the truest measure of his work is the faith with which it is delivered. Once having fulfilled his sacred obligation, Buddy’s eyes are opened to the truth around him. He now recognizes that every place on earth is Holy Ground. He finds peace through his connection with others, even the terrible and misinformed girls in room 307, whom he acknowledges as being his sisters as much as Boo Boo or Franny. And, like Franny before him, Buddy greets his own revelation with a conclusion by now common to Salinger characters who have attained similar enlightenment: a satisfied, peaceful sleep.
*Signet had released the paperback edition of Nine Stories in 1954. The book’s presentation was tasteful if not aesthetically pleasing. It had no garish cover illustration, as did the Signet version of Catcher, and was void of a provocative marquee. By then, however, Salinger had become disgusted with the idea of paperback (or “throwaway”) books in general and was as scornful of Signet’s Nine Stories as he was of its Catcher.
*The correlations between Salinger and Kerouac are fascinating. Kerouac is said to have coined the phrase “Beat Generation,” to describe his contemporaries as being wearied by the conformity of society, in ways similar to Holden Caulfield. Salinger certainly addresses Kerouac directly in “Seymour—an Introduction” by condemning “the Dharma Bums,” the title of Kerouac’s 1958 novel. Interestingly, only a single semester separated Salinger’s and Kerouac’s time at Columbia University, and had Columbia not mandated that Kerouac briefly attend prep school in New England, the two would have been classmates. Professionally, Salinger and Kerouac were similarly ambitious but eventually repulsed by their own fame. Icons of a generation, both authors were equally distressed to be invoked in defense of issues and positions they did not support. Salinger’s reaction was to cloister himself in religion and seclusion, while Kerouac descended into the alcoholism that led to his early death.
*In fact, Salinger’s necktie in “Seymour” is described as being “crocus yellow.” But the 1946 metaphor remains. Buddy admits that it is inevitable that his necktie will show up in his prose.
†A koan is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Zen Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are