J. D. Salinger_ A Life - Kenneth Slawenski [80]
“Birthday Boy” is set in a hospital, where a young man named Ray* is visited by his girlfriend, Ethel. It is Ray’s twenty-second birthday, a fact of which his father, who had previously visited, had been unaware. Ray is spending the day as we suspect he has for quite some time, in a hospital bed. While most of Ethel and Ray’s initial interaction avoids the reason for Ray’s hospitalization, it soon becomes apparent that he is undergoing rehabilitation for alcoholism. Ethel attempts to make pleasant small talk and read to Ray at his bedside, but he is uninterested. Ray is the embodiment of cynicism. After feigning sexual interest in Ethel with a playful grope, he pressures her to sneak in “a lousy drop” of liquor by hiding it in a perfume bottle. When Ethel refuses, Ray’s true colors emerge and he curses her in front of the doctor, telling her, “If you come back here, I’ll kill you.”11
Ethel is portrayed as sweet and long-suffering, while in contrast Ray is consumed by selfishness. He is abusive, impenitent, and completely controlled by his addiction. Salinger leaves no room for readers to take sides in this story; “Birthday Boy” contains no fat-faced peony. Perhaps it is too late for Ethel, just as it appears to be too late for Ray. As Ethel boards the hospital elevator, it “descended with a draft. Chilling [her] in all the damp spots.” Her misery is complete. Having left Ray’s room, her stoic cheeriness dissolves and she begins to sob. Yet Ray has not depleted all of the reader’s condemnation. Some remains for Ethel. Her refusal to recognize the extent of Ray’s disease and to bury the corpse of their relationship earns her a share of scorn. We realize that Ethel and Ray’s relationship is doomed. We also realize that Ray’s alcoholism has infected him with alienation and a callousness that may be contagious. Ethel’s denial of these facts and her insistence upon pursuing her own illusions will be her certain downfall. Readers have no doubt that, despite Ray’s warning, she will be back the next day.
“Birthday Boy” is an unusually short story and one that remains unpolished. It offers neither enlightenment nor redemption. It is an expression of sheer sourness, a tart splatter of forlorn rage. However, it is probably dangerous to read its characters as autobiographical. If the figure of Ethel was inspired by Sylvia, the character of Ray must be based upon Salinger. If so, it demonstrates a degree of self-hatred that was uncharacteristic of the author and sympathy toward Sylvia that was unlikely.
The probability is that “Birthday Boy” was never intended to be a great story. After the stress of war and eight months of silence, writing it was accomplishment enough. Plainly, Salinger had difficulty locating his previous literary levels, and for the next year and a half he would struggle to rediscover his touch. Ironically, like Ethel’s in “Birthday Boy,” Salinger’s problem was one of denial. Even though the war still raged within him, he avoided writing about it. Salinger would not develop as an author until he found the strength to engage with the ramifications of war.
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The previous July, Salinger had revealed with some annoyance that his plan to release a short-story collection had collapsed. The circumstances of this disappointment are unclear, but considering the anthology’s turbulent history, the episode is not surprising. By December 1945, the book deal was back on track and Burnett had once again recommitted to publishing the collection.
In the months between July and November 1945, Salinger had again pulled out his Caulfield story “I’m Crazy” and submitted it for publication. This time, it was offered to Collier’s, which accepted