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By Root 1396 0

records to the academy along with a short evaluation of the candidate that called his attention “fuzzy” and ranked him fifteenth in a class of eighteen. McBurney had measured Sonny’s IQ at 111, commenting that although his ability was plentiful, he did not know the word “industry.” He was, the report concluded, “Hard hit by adolescence his last semester with us” (sic). Fortunately, Valley Forge was still a young school in competition with wealthier and more fashionable academies. Whether the applicant was “fuzzy” or not, it was reluctant to turn away a paying recruit, and Sonny’s application was accepted. Two days later, from his office in Manhattan’s Franklin Street, the relieved Sol Salinger sent the academy the $50 registration fee along with a note thanking the interviewer for his courtesy. Bearing in mind the McBurney report, he also assured the school official, Chaplin Waldemar Ivan Rutan, in a letter dated September 20, 1934, that “Jerome will conduct himself properly and … you will find his school spirit excellent.”

• • •

When Jerome entered Valley Forge in 1934, he joined the ranks of 350 cadets in the school’s regimen of discipline, military service, and strict routine. Cadets were roused from bed at 6 A.M. to begin a day of formations, classes, speeches, and endless marching. Activities were communal and followed a firm schedule. Cadets slept in shared rooms, ate together in the dining hall, and were required to attend church services on Sundays. Taps were blown at 10 P.M. sharp, bringing an end to the day. All these rituals were strictly supervised and enveloped in a military atmosphere that stressed duty, honor, and obedience. Infractions of the rules were dealt with harshly; and there were many rules at Valley Forge. A cadet’s personal items were to be arranged according to regulation. His uniform was to be worn at all times and kept immaculate. Stepping off academy grounds without permission was a serious offense. Females were forbidden on campus. Smoking was tolerated only with written permission from a cadet’s parents and was forbidden in dorms.

Having enjoyed a life being spoiled by his mother, refusing to apply himself to his studies, and flouting the few rules ever imposed on him, entering this world of unbending military discipline came as a great shock to Jerome. What made the transition even more difficult was the fact that many of the cadets at Valley Forge did not like him. Salinger was a thin, lanky teen (school photographs picture him awkwardly awash in his dress uniform, always in the back row) with what some students considered a snobbish New York attitude. Other cadets resented him for entering Valley Forge two years later than most and avoiding freshman hazing. Alone, and lacking the support of his family for the first time, Sonny sought refuge in sarcasm and feigned aloofness, attitudes that did not make him popular.

Salinger quickly adapted. He discarded his nickname of Sonny and refused to be called Jerome. Now known only as Jerry Salinger, he began to display a biting wit that drew a handful of cadets to his side, some of whom would become the most devoted of friends. A number of older cadets, including William Faison and Herbert Kauffman, remained attached to Salinger long after graduation. Both of Salinger’s roommates, Cadets Richard Gonder and William Dix, became close friends. Decades later, Salinger remembered Dix as being “the best and the kindest,”15 while Gonder recalled his exploits with Salinger happily, describing Jerry as “condescending but loving.”16

It is clear that Salinger used Valley Forge as the basis of Holden Caulfield’s prep school when he wrote The Catcher in the Rye, and readers have sought to uncover Holden’s personality within young Salinger ever since. Derisive of the phoniness of the schools they attended and of the “stuffed shirts” who drove the routine, Jerry and Holden shared many attributes. Like Holden, Salinger enjoyed breaking the rules, even if it was just to sneak off campus for a few hours or smoke in his dormitory. Both boys were fond of mimicry,