All language subtitles for 10. J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
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Professor Amy
Hungerford: In light of the
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00:00:05,236 --> 00:00:07,923
fact that I have just sent you
paper topics,
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00:00:07,923 --> 00:00:10,860
my lecture today is going to do
two things.
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00:00:10,860 --> 00:00:14,649
It is going to give you a way
into Franny and Zooey,
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but it's going to actually
give you more than a way into
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it.
It is really going to give you
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a whole packaged reading of
Franny and Zooey.
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We have just the one day on
this novel, and what I'm going
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00:00:29,761 --> 00:00:35,188
to be doing for you is modeling
the way literary critics use
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evidence to advance an argument.
It's useful to you when you
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00:00:40,242 --> 00:00:44,049
think about writing a paper to
remember, if it's been a long
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00:00:44,049 --> 00:00:47,020
time since you've written an
English paper,
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00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:51,221
or even if it isn't a long time
since you've written an English
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00:00:51,221 --> 00:00:55,052
paper, that the facts that we,
literary critics,
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00:00:55,052 --> 00:01:01,115
and you, writers on literature,
the facts that we deal with are
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the details of the text itself.
You may have noticed that I am
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very fond of reading aloud to
you from these novels.
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I'm very fond of reading out
passages.
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I do it a lot.
Why do I do it?
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Well, there are two reasons,
one because I want you to hear
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literary art.
Literary art is a verbal art,
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and I think too often we only
read it silently;
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probably not since you were
children that people read to you
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so much.
So, to get a sense of that,
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you have to have it in your ear
and feel the sound and the
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rhythm and the quality,
the timbre, the expression of
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the voices that we have in these
novels.
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Our writer for today thinks so
highly of that capacity of
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literature to embody the human
voice that he imagines a whole
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religious world around him.
That's going to be the gist of
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my argument today.
But then, there is a second,
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sort of, less mystical reason,
and that's that these are the
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facts of a literary argument,
these words that I give to you.
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It's like, if you're in an
astronomy lecture,
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they're going to give you some
facts about the composition of a
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planet, or its atmosphere,
or whatever.
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Those are the facts for that
field.
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For this field,
these are the facts.
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So, in your papers,
if you find yourself writing
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and you get to the end of a page
and you look back,
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you scan back over your page,
and you see that there are no
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quotation marks,
you are not using any of the
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facts of the novel to produce
your argument,
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to support your claims.
So, that's like the eye test,
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the glance test.
Are you supporting your claims?
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If you have very few
quotations, chances are you are
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not.
So, think of this lecture,
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as I go through it,
as a kind of model.
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Pay attention to what I'm doing
in using these textual bits and
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pieces and putting them together
and making claims for them.
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I do it every week.
It just so happens that this
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argument is more closed,
more settled,
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in my own mind.
It's less of an opening
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argument than it is something
that I want to convince you of.
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So, there's a reason for that
and that is that I'm writing
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about this novel.
It's in the introduction to a
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book that I'm writing about the
literature of this period,
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and so it's very present to my
mind as a sort of piece of a
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larger argument about religion
and the American novel in this
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period,
so that's what I'm giving you.
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When you approach any novel
to make an argument about it,
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if you want to be ambitious,
the first thing to think about
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is well, what's obvious about
the novel?
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What can you observe at first
glance about its style,
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00:04:09,294 --> 00:04:11,822
about its form,
about its setting,
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00:04:11,822 --> 00:04:15,729
about its character,
about its presuppositions?
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In Franny and Zooey,
what did you notice?
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00:04:18,910 --> 00:04:24,281
Tell me what you noticed,
at first bat,
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if any of you have read it.
What did you notice about the
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novel?
Uh huh.Student:
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It doesn't move around very
much.
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It just stays in a limited
space.Professor Amy
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Hungerford: Absolutely.
Confined settings,
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very confined settings,
absolutely.
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Yes.
What else?
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00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:42,283
Yes.Student:
A lot of
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dialog?Professor Amy
Hungerford: Lots of dialog,
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yes.
What else?
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00:04:46,199 --> 00:04:49,355
Uh huh.Student:
[inaudible]Professor
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Amy Hungerford:
Yeah, yeah.
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Absolutely.
Yeah.
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There's a back story.
You can feel that back story to
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the novel.
Yeah.
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What else?
What else did you notice?
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Yes.Student:
There's a lot of focus on
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00:05:01,396 --> 00:05:03,689
like little motions that people
do,
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00:05:03,689 --> 00:05:06,211
like picking up cigarettes and
dropping things.Professor
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Amy Hungerford:
Yeah.
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00:05:07,310 --> 00:05:11,115
A lot of attention to physical
detail and physical movement,
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00:05:11,115 --> 00:05:14,920
and that's connected to this
point about confined spaces.
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00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,637
It's the movement of bodies
within confined spaces that
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really preoccupies this novel.
What about the style of the
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novel?
You talked about dialog.
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Is there anything else about
the style that you noticed?
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00:05:26,730 --> 00:05:27,983
Yes.Student:
There's a lot of
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italics.Professor Amy
Hungerford: A lot of
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italics.
What does that connote to
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you?Student:
Trying to convey
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00:05:34,158 --> 00:05:37,569
feeling.Professor Amy
Hungerford: Yeah.
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Absolutely.
A lot of emphasis,
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a lot of variation in tone,
and the italics are part of the
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representation of that.
Yeah. What else?
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00:05:46,819 --> 00:05:49,540
Yes.Student:
A lot of the dialog seems
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to be combative.
There's arguing between two
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people.
Professor Amy
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Hungerford: Yes.
This is a book about arguments,
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absolutely.
What are they arguing about
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most of the time?
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00:06:00,519 --> 00:06:05,209
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00:06:05,209 --> 00:06:06,778
All right.
Well, that's where I will pick
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up.
Oh, Sarah.
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Do you want to say?
Student:
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There are a lot of abstract
ideas.Professor Amy
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Hungerford: Yeah.
Yeah.
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Absolutely.
They are talking about abstract
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intellectual ideas,
often religious or
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philosophical ones,
and that, plus its setting:
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I hope you noticed the sort of
New Havenish setting of Franny's
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breakdown.
We're told that Lane isn't
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exactly a Yale man,
but he sure looks a lot like a
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Yale English major,
dare I say, such an unpleasant
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character, and so,
so pompous.
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What you do,
when you write a paper or try
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to advance an argument,
is try to write an argument
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that will attend to all those
things that you guys just said,
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that you take the obvious
things, and when you craft an
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argument, the best thing,
the most ambitious thing,
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00:07:07,142 --> 00:07:09,769
to do is to come up with
something where,
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00:07:09,769 --> 00:07:12,995
in the end,
you can say something about
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those major aspects.
You don't have to do it in the
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paper, but it should be an
argument that has something to
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say back to those obvious
things.
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Why is the style this way?
Why is the plot working this
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way?
Why are these particular
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characters behaving in this way?
Why use those confined spaces?
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So, my argument today is
going to try to have something
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to say back to all those obvious
aspects that you pointed out so
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rightly.
But I'm going to start from a
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much more pointed and local
question.
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And this is the other thing
that a good short paper
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especially does,
is that you don't get at all
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that big stuff by,
kind of, taking it head on.
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You have to come down to the
facts that I was talking about,
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the bits of text,
the text itself,
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the words that author chose;
that's where you begin.
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And part of the genius of a
strong paper is choosing the
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place in the text to begin that
pointed analysis.
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So, my choice for this is that
odd introduction in-between the
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two stories, and this is on 48
and 49.
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This is, we come to find out,
Buddy, Zooey's older brother,
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narrating the story,
and Buddy gives us a little
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preamble telling us how the real
characters in the story,
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the real people who are then
characters in his story,
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how they felt about the story
and what their objections to it
156
00:09:04,682 --> 00:09:07,240
were (and this is on 48).
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00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,870
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We find out that Franny objects
to the story's distribution in
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the world or the movie,
the prose home movie as Buddy
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00:09:19,870 --> 00:09:24,668
calls it, because it shows her
blowing her nose a lot.
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His mother, Bessie,
objects because it shows her in
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her housecoat.
But Zooey has a more
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substantive objection.
It's the leading man,
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however, who has made the most
eloquent appeal to me to call
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off the production.
[This is in the middle of page
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48.]
He feels that the plot hinges
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on mysticism or religious
mystification.
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In any case,
he makes it very clear,
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a too vividly apparent
transcendent element of sorts,
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which he says he's worried can
only expedite,
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move up, the day and hour of my
professional undoing.
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People are already shaking
their heads over me and any
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00:10:06,273 --> 00:10:10,090
immediate further professional
use on my part of the word "God"
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except as a familiar,
healthy American expletive will
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00:10:13,907 --> 00:10:18,167
be taken or rather confirmed as
the very worst kind of name
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dropping and a sure sign that
I'm going straight to the
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dogs.
And then, he speaks back to
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Zooey.
He says, "Well,
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I'm going to still distribute
my story.
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I still want to tell this
story," and he does it in a kind
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of roundabout way.
And this is on page 49.
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Somewhere in The Great
Gatsby, which was my Tom
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00:10:41,163 --> 00:10:44,433
Sawyer when I was twelve,
the youthful narrator remarks
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00:10:44,433 --> 00:10:47,981
that everybody suspects himself
of having at least one of the
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00:10:47,981 --> 00:10:51,590
cardinal virtues and he goes on
to say that he thinks his,
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00:10:51,590 --> 00:10:55,643
bless his heart, is honesty.
Mine, I think,
187
00:10:55,643 --> 00:11:00,505
is that I know the difference
between a mystical story and a
188
00:11:00,505 --> 00:11:04,205
love story.
I say that my current offering
189
00:11:04,205 --> 00:11:09,125
isn't a mystical story or a
religiously mystifying story at
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00:11:09,125 --> 00:11:12,687
all.
I say it's a compound or
191
00:11:12,687 --> 00:11:18,750
multiple love story,
pure and complicated.
192
00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:21,611
What Buddy does,
in this passage,
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00:11:21,611 --> 00:11:26,532
is set up this opposition
between his own reading of his
194
00:11:26,532 --> 00:11:30,458
story and Zooey's.
Now, why are we given these
195
00:11:30,458 --> 00:11:33,202
objections?
I think it's to give us a
196
00:11:33,202 --> 00:11:37,399
dynamic sense of the family
conversation going on between
197
00:11:37,399 --> 00:11:41,820
them, but it also addresses one
of those obvious things.
198
00:11:41,820 --> 00:11:44,043
They talk a lot,
as Sarah said,
199
00:11:44,043 --> 00:11:48,340
they talk a lot about abstract
questions, and this puts the
200
00:11:48,340 --> 00:11:52,120
meaning of the story in that
abstract register.
201
00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,876
Is it a love story,
or is it a religious story,
202
00:11:56,876 --> 00:12:00,580
a mystifying story?
Which is it?
203
00:12:00,580 --> 00:12:03,808
I am going to argue that it's
both.
204
00:12:03,808 --> 00:12:09,135
And I'm going to advance that
argument by going straight to
205
00:12:09,135 --> 00:12:14,461
the theological question that
Zooey is so intent on solving
206
00:12:14,461 --> 00:12:19,879
when Franny is having her
breakdown in the living room.
207
00:12:19,879 --> 00:12:24,660
So, just to review:
Franny has her breakdown when
208
00:12:24,660 --> 00:12:30,140
she comes into what I suspect is
New Haven to attend the
209
00:12:30,140 --> 00:12:34,624
Yale-Harvard football game with
her boyfriend,
210
00:12:34,624 --> 00:12:38,900
Lane.
So, Franny when she sees Lane,
211
00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:44,735
affects great enthusiasm,
and so on, but this is what we
212
00:12:44,735 --> 00:12:48,659
hear about Lane from the
narrator.
213
00:12:48,659 --> 00:12:54,240
This is on page 11.
Lane was speaking now as
214
00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,864
someone does who has been
monopolizing conversation for a
215
00:12:57,864 --> 00:13:01,811
good quarter of an hour or so
and who believes he has just hit
216
00:13:01,811 --> 00:13:05,500
a stride where his voice can do
absolutely no wrong.
217
00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:09,210
[I always read this and I
think, "I'm lecturing."]
218
00:13:09,210 --> 00:13:12,465
"I mean, to put it crudely,'"
he was saying,
219
00:13:12,465 --> 00:13:16,630
"the thing you could say he
lacks is testicularity.
220
00:13:16,630 --> 00:13:19,615
You know what I mean?"
He was slouched rhetorically
221
00:13:19,615 --> 00:13:22,517
forward toward Franny,
his receptive audience,
222
00:13:22,517 --> 00:13:26,000
a supporting forearm on either
side of his martini.
223
00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,360
"Lacks what?"
Franny said.
224
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,980
She had had to clear her throat
before speaking.
225
00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:33,570
It had been so long since she
had said anything at all.
226
00:13:33,570 --> 00:13:36,600
Lane hesitated.
"Masculinity," he said.
227
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,721
"I heard you the first time."
"Anyway, it was the motif of
228
00:13:39,721 --> 00:13:43,509
the thing, so to speak,
what I was trying to bring out
229
00:13:43,509 --> 00:13:46,701
in a fairly subtle way,"
Lane said, very closely
230
00:13:46,701 --> 00:13:49,169
following the trend of his own
conversation.
231
00:13:49,169 --> 00:13:52,370
"I mean God.
I honestly thought it was going
232
00:13:52,370 --> 00:13:56,125
to go over like a goddamn lead
balloon and when I got it back
233
00:13:56,125 --> 00:13:59,693
with this goddamn A on it in
letters about six feet high I
234
00:13:59,693 --> 00:14:03,668
swear I nearly keeled over."
Franny again cleared her throat.
235
00:14:03,668 --> 00:14:07,130
Apparently, her self-imposed
sentence of unadulterated good
236
00:14:07,130 --> 00:14:09,340
listenership had been fully
served.
237
00:14:09,340 --> 00:14:11,059
"Why?"
she asked.
238
00:14:11,059 --> 00:14:13,678
Lane looked faintly interrupted.
"Why what?"
239
00:14:13,678 --> 00:14:16,509
"Why did you think it was going
to go over like a lead balloon?"
240
00:14:16,509 --> 00:14:19,899
"I just told you.
I just got through saying this
241
00:14:19,899 --> 00:14:23,597
guy, Brughman is a big Flaubert
man or at least I thought he
242
00:14:23,597 --> 00:14:24,940
was."
"Oh," Franny said.
243
00:14:24,940 --> 00:14:30,817
She smiled.
Franny is disgusted by his
244
00:14:30,817 --> 00:14:34,187
pomposity.
This experience,
245
00:14:34,187 --> 00:14:38,899
combined with her experience in
a religion seminar with this
246
00:14:38,899 --> 00:14:41,143
man,
Professor Tupper,
247
00:14:41,143 --> 00:14:45,994
at school, has convinced
herself that the world is
248
00:14:45,994 --> 00:14:50,539
superficial,
that it's impossible to find
249
00:14:50,539 --> 00:14:56,442
anything meaningful in the
academic discussion of these
250
00:14:56,442 --> 00:15:02,712
pseudo-intellectual problems,
the "testicularity" of one
251
00:15:02,712 --> 00:15:07,846
writer or another.
And Lane's engagement with
252
00:15:07,846 --> 00:15:14,779
literature, specifically,
is all about his ego inflation.
253
00:15:14,779 --> 00:15:18,913
So, he can't wait to tell
Franny that the professor said
254
00:15:18,913 --> 00:15:22,895
he should try to publish it,
and then my favorite thing:
255
00:15:22,895 --> 00:15:26,350
he wants to read it to her over
the football weekend.
256
00:15:26,350 --> 00:15:30,700
"Hey, come, let's read my
English essay."
257
00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:31,889
Hello.
Student: Hi.
258
00:15:31,889 --> 00:15:33,820
Can I interrupt?
We have a couple of singing
259
00:15:33,820 --> 00:15:34,938
valentines.
Can we deliver them
260
00:15:34,938 --> 00:15:36,543
now?Professor Amy
Hungerford: No,
261
00:15:36,543 --> 00:15:39,080
you can't.
Sorry.
262
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:44,070
263
00:15:44,070 --> 00:15:44,070
Student:
Thank you.Professor
264
00:15:44,815 --> 00:15:45,476
Amy Hungerford:
And I'm worried about
265
00:15:45,476 --> 00:15:45,476
e-mail!
266
00:15:45,659 --> 00:15:51,379
267
00:15:51,379 --> 00:15:54,529
Talk about pricking my
pomposity.
268
00:15:54,529 --> 00:15:58,734
All right.
So, she starts saying the Jesus
269
00:15:58,734 --> 00:16:03,024
prayer, which is,
"Lord Jesus Christ,
270
00:16:03,024 --> 00:16:08,149
Son of God, have mercy on me,
a sinner."
271
00:16:08,149 --> 00:16:11,485
Now, she has taken this prayer
from a book called The Way of
272
00:16:11,485 --> 00:16:14,341
the Pilgrim.
It's a Russian Orthodox
273
00:16:14,341 --> 00:16:16,986
religious classic,
a very old text,
274
00:16:16,986 --> 00:16:20,100
and it depicts the life of a
pilgrim.
275
00:16:20,100 --> 00:16:23,639
And we get the summary of this
a little bit in the novel,
276
00:16:23,639 --> 00:16:26,484
as Franny explains it,
or tries to explain it,
277
00:16:26,484 --> 00:16:29,139
to Lane, who is entirely
uninterested.
278
00:16:29,139 --> 00:16:33,975
It is about a man who tries to
take seriously the Bible's
279
00:16:33,975 --> 00:16:38,551
injunction to pray without
ceasing, and the prayer for
280
00:16:38,551 --> 00:16:43,909
Franny becomes a kind of mantra.
She is trying to say it over
281
00:16:43,909 --> 00:16:48,412
and over again as she goes about
in this world that is so
282
00:16:48,412 --> 00:16:52,190
disappointing to her,
feels so false to her.
283
00:16:52,190 --> 00:16:56,509
And so, finally,
the strain of trying to hold
284
00:16:56,509 --> 00:17:01,908
out this kind of religious
awareness in the face of Lane
285
00:17:01,908 --> 00:17:06,130
and his English paper is just
too much,
286
00:17:06,130 --> 00:17:10,255
and she faints.
Now, Zooey has a big
287
00:17:10,255 --> 00:17:14,616
problem with her use of this
prayer, and this is what gives
288
00:17:14,616 --> 00:17:19,279
the book that sort of combative
tone that we were talking about
289
00:17:19,279 --> 00:17:22,740
a little earlier that somebody
mentioned.
290
00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:27,737
So, if you look on page 169,
my question now is,
291
00:17:27,737 --> 00:17:32,202
in my argument:
What is Zooey's critique of
292
00:17:32,202 --> 00:17:38,819
Franny's use of the prayer?
What constitutes that critique?
293
00:17:38,819 --> 00:17:39,519
What's wrong with it?
294
00:17:39,519 --> 00:17:43,180
295
00:17:43,180 --> 00:17:48,808
So, on 169, he says to Franny
as she's sniveling on the couch:
296
00:17:48,808 --> 00:17:50,598
"God almighty,
Franny," he said.
297
00:17:50,598 --> 00:17:53,133
"If you're going to say the
Jesus prayer,
298
00:17:53,133 --> 00:17:56,932
at least say it to Jesus and
not to Saint Francis and Seymour
299
00:17:56,932 --> 00:18:00,098
and Heidi's grandfather all
wrapped up in one.
300
00:18:00,098 --> 00:18:03,269
Keep Him in mind if you say it,
and Him only,
301
00:18:03,269 --> 00:18:07,519
and Him as He was and not as
you'd like Him to have been.
302
00:18:07,519 --> 00:18:11,453
You don't face any facts.
This same damned attitude of
303
00:18:11,453 --> 00:18:15,075
not facing facts is what got you
into this messy state of mind in
304
00:18:15,075 --> 00:18:17,230
the first place,
and it can't possibly get you
305
00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:20,561
out of it."
And then, this argument goes on
306
00:18:20,561 --> 00:18:24,876
for a couple of pages,
and I'm just going to pick up
307
00:18:24,876 --> 00:18:28,599
the end of it here,
on the bottom of 171.
308
00:18:28,599 --> 00:18:33,184
He is explaining who Jesus was.
"If you don't understand
309
00:18:33,184 --> 00:18:35,619
Jesus, you can't understand His
prayer.
310
00:18:35,619 --> 00:18:39,075
You don't get the prayer at all.
You just get some kind of
311
00:18:39,075 --> 00:18:42,019
organized cant.
Jesus was a supreme adept,
312
00:18:42,019 --> 00:18:44,920
by God, on a terribly important
mission.
313
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,509
This was no Saint Francis with
enough time to knock out a few
314
00:18:48,509 --> 00:18:51,919
canticles or to preach to the
birds or do any of the other
315
00:18:51,919 --> 00:18:55,150
endearing things so close to
Franny Glass's heart.
316
00:18:55,150 --> 00:18:58,740
I'm being serious now, goddamit.
How can you miss seeing that?
317
00:18:58,740 --> 00:19:01,761
If God had wanted somebody with
Saint Francis's consistently
318
00:19:01,761 --> 00:19:04,578
winning personality for the job
in the New Testament,
319
00:19:04,578 --> 00:19:06,298
He'd have picked him,
you can be sure.
320
00:19:06,298 --> 00:19:09,391
As it was, He picked the best,
the smartest,
321
00:19:09,391 --> 00:19:12,122
the most loving,
the least sentimental,
322
00:19:12,122 --> 00:19:16,578
the most unimitative master He
could have possibly picked.
323
00:19:16,578 --> 00:19:19,507
And when you miss seeing that,
I swear to you,
324
00:19:19,507 --> 00:19:23,410
you're missing the whole point
of the Jesus prayer."
325
00:19:23,410 --> 00:19:28,940
So, Zooey's critique is that
Franny is not being specific in
326
00:19:28,940 --> 00:19:34,131
her use of the prayer.
She's paying no attention to
327
00:19:34,131 --> 00:19:40,960
who Jesus was and what it means
to actually pray to that figure.
328
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:46,250
But, to anyone paying attention
to the other things that Zooey
329
00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:51,019
says and the other things that
he does in this novel,
330
00:19:51,019 --> 00:19:55,710
this is kind of odd,
and it's hard to square.
331
00:19:55,710 --> 00:20:00,060
So, my next kind of question
is: How does that very
332
00:20:00,060 --> 00:20:04,065
doctrinally specific
understanding of the Jesus
333
00:20:04,065 --> 00:20:08,939
prayer relate to the whole
religious education that Buddy
334
00:20:08,939 --> 00:20:13,078
and Seymour gave him,
and that he seems to be
335
00:20:13,078 --> 00:20:17,124
thinking so hard about as he
reads that letter in the
336
00:20:17,124 --> 00:20:20,702
bathtub?
The letter in the bathtub tells
337
00:20:20,702 --> 00:20:24,829
us about that education,
and let's look on 61.
338
00:20:24,829 --> 00:20:38,059
339
00:20:38,059 --> 00:20:41,171
Sorry.
That's not exactly the right
340
00:20:41,171 --> 00:20:42,190
page.
This is 65.
341
00:20:42,190 --> 00:20:43,309
I'm sorry.
342
00:20:43,309 --> 00:20:47,230
343
00:20:47,230 --> 00:20:52,442
In this letter Buddy explains
to Zooey what he and Seymour
344
00:20:52,442 --> 00:20:55,586
have been trying to do.
"Much,
345
00:20:55,586 --> 00:20:59,871
much more important though,"
[Buddy says in the middle of 65]
346
00:20:59,871 --> 00:21:02,798
"Seymour had already begun to
believe,
347
00:21:02,798 --> 00:21:07,487
and I agreed with him as far as
I was able to see the point,
348
00:21:07,487 --> 00:21:11,460
that education by any name
would smell as sweet,
349
00:21:11,460 --> 00:21:14,517
and maybe much sweeter,
if it didn't begin with a quest
350
00:21:14,517 --> 00:21:17,212
for knowledge at all,
but with a quest,
351
00:21:17,212 --> 00:21:20,410
as Zen would put it,
for no-knowledge.
352
00:21:20,410 --> 00:21:22,422
Dr.
Suzuki says somewhere,
353
00:21:22,422 --> 00:21:25,884
that to be in a state of pure
consciousness,
354
00:21:25,884 --> 00:21:29,105
satori, is to be with God
before He said,
355
00:21:29,105 --> 00:21:33,204
'Let there be light.'
Seymour and I thought it might
356
00:21:33,204 --> 00:21:37,118
be a good thing to hold back
this light from you and Franny,
357
00:21:37,118 --> 00:21:39,923
at least as far as we were
able, and all the many lower,
358
00:21:39,923 --> 00:21:42,269
more fashionable lighting
effects--the arts,
359
00:21:42,269 --> 00:21:46,000
sciences, classics,
languages--'til you were both
360
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,585
able at least to conceive of a
state of being where the mind
361
00:21:50,585 --> 00:21:52,994
knows the source of all light."
362
00:21:52,994 --> 00:21:53,848
363
00:21:53,848 --> 00:22:00,454
So, the religious education
that Zooey's response to Franny
364
00:22:00,454 --> 00:22:05,351
comes out of,
is precisely not a doctrinally
365
00:22:05,351 --> 00:22:11,231
specific Christian education.
Rather, it's something more
366
00:22:11,231 --> 00:22:14,220
like a Buddhist tradition,
a syncretic,
367
00:22:14,220 --> 00:22:19,075
mystical tradition.
The idea is that there is some
368
00:22:19,075 --> 00:22:23,952
state of being with God.
Knowledge, all the arts and
369
00:22:23,952 --> 00:22:28,159
sciences, literature,
all of the religious writings
370
00:22:28,159 --> 00:22:33,461
of the world are manifestations
of that voice that at its origin
371
00:22:33,461 --> 00:22:36,309
is God saying,
"Let there be light."
372
00:22:36,309 --> 00:22:43,665
It's the voice of creation.
Seymour and Buddy want Franny
373
00:22:43,665 --> 00:22:49,255
and Zooey to rest at that
origin, undistracted by the
374
00:22:49,255 --> 00:22:54,700
manifestations of the creation,
and know some kind of
375
00:22:54,700 --> 00:22:57,769
consciousness of God in that
place.
376
00:22:57,769 --> 00:23:05,317
So, Zooey, pretty much,
subscribes to these tenets,
377
00:23:05,317 --> 00:23:14,223
and you can see it especially
on page 175, when he goes into
378
00:23:14,223 --> 00:23:20,012
his brother's old room.
Now, let me explain a
379
00:23:20,012 --> 00:23:23,644
detail that I think is
important, but I think a little
380
00:23:23,644 --> 00:23:26,730
lost to us in today's world of
technology.
381
00:23:26,730 --> 00:23:32,028
There's a phone in Buddy and
Seymour's old room that is a
382
00:23:32,028 --> 00:23:36,951
private internal line,
and it just goes from one room
383
00:23:36,951 --> 00:23:41,940
to another in the apartment;
it's not an outside phone line.
384
00:23:41,940 --> 00:23:45,868
And what's interesting about
it, and what indicates its
385
00:23:45,868 --> 00:23:49,316
importance to Buddy,
is that Bessie gets on about
386
00:23:49,316 --> 00:23:53,338
him getting a phone where he's
teaching in upstate New York;
387
00:23:53,338 --> 00:23:56,654
he's teaching writing as a
visiting writer at a college in
388
00:23:56,654 --> 00:23:59,142
upstate New York.
And Bessie, his mother,
389
00:23:59,142 --> 00:24:01,487
keeps saying,
"Well, why won't you get a
390
00:24:01,487 --> 00:24:04,719
phone, Buddy?
You're paying to maintain this
391
00:24:04,719 --> 00:24:09,558
interior line in our apartment,
and yet you won't get a phone."
392
00:24:09,558 --> 00:24:14,988
For Buddy, the phone that's
within the family compound,
393
00:24:14,988 --> 00:24:17,904
so to speak,
family apartment,
394
00:24:17,904 --> 00:24:22,730
is the more important line of
communication.
395
00:24:22,730 --> 00:24:26,152
So, when Zooey goes upstairs to
use that phone,
396
00:24:26,152 --> 00:24:30,467
it's freighted with all the
significance that Buddy has put
397
00:24:30,467 --> 00:24:35,742
upon it.
But there's a whole ritual
398
00:24:35,742 --> 00:24:43,500
involved in Zooey's entrance
into this place.
399
00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:44,410
This is on 175.
400
00:24:44,410 --> 00:24:49,130
401
00:24:49,130 --> 00:24:51,891
At the far end of the
hall he went into the bedroom he
402
00:24:51,891 --> 00:24:53,808
had once shared with his twin
brothers,
403
00:24:53,808 --> 00:24:56,471
which now, in 1955,
was his alone,
404
00:24:56,471 --> 00:25:01,150
but he stayed in his room for
not more than two minutes.
405
00:25:01,150 --> 00:25:04,038
When he came out,
he had on the same sweaty
406
00:25:04,038 --> 00:25:06,049
shirt.
There was, however,
407
00:25:06,049 --> 00:25:10,279
a slight but fairly distinct
change in his appearance.
408
00:25:10,279 --> 00:25:15,108
He had acquired a cigar and
lighted it, and for some reason
409
00:25:15,108 --> 00:25:18,440
he had an unfolded white
handkerchief,
410
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:23,365
draped over his head,
possibly to ward off rain,
411
00:25:23,365 --> 00:25:27,650
or hail, or brimstone.
So, why does he do this?
412
00:25:27,650 --> 00:25:32,419
What's the meaning of this
little detail of Zooey's
413
00:25:32,419 --> 00:25:35,316
appearance?
Well, one thing that a literary
414
00:25:35,316 --> 00:25:38,096
argument can do is take
something small like this and
415
00:25:38,096 --> 00:25:41,568
try to give an account for it,
so that's what I'm going to do.
416
00:25:41,568 --> 00:25:47,920
He's venerating the room that
Seymour and Buddy occupied.
417
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:53,054
He's covering his head in a
traditional religious fashion,
418
00:25:53,054 --> 00:25:58,279
so in order to enter this holy
place he covers his head.
419
00:25:58,279 --> 00:26:00,400
(The cigar?
I don't have an account of that.
420
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,811
You guys figure that out.
That's the other nice thing
421
00:26:04,811 --> 00:26:07,874
about literary arguments.
There are always little details
422
00:26:07,874 --> 00:26:11,731
that they don't account for,
and that's the loose thread
423
00:26:11,731 --> 00:26:15,028
that you can pull to make your
own.) And so,
424
00:26:15,028 --> 00:26:20,269
what does he find when he goes
in to this holy space?
425
00:26:20,269 --> 00:26:25,086
Well, he finds two panels of
beaver board,
426
00:26:25,086 --> 00:26:31,666
on 178,179, and they have the
quotations that Seymour and
427
00:26:31,666 --> 00:26:38,598
Buddy have collected from all
their favorite religious,
428
00:26:38,598 --> 00:26:42,717
philosophical,
mystical, literary reading,
429
00:26:42,717 --> 00:26:47,839
and I'd like you just to think
about one of them.
430
00:26:47,839 --> 00:26:53,880
So this is the bottom of 178.
This is from Sri Rama Krishna.
431
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,174
"Sir, we ought to teach
the people that they are doing
432
00:26:58,174 --> 00:27:02,690
wrong in worshipping the images
and pictures in the temple."
433
00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:05,366
Rama Krishna:
"That's the way with you
434
00:27:05,366 --> 00:27:08,568
Calcutta people.
You want to teach and preach.
435
00:27:08,568 --> 00:27:12,400
You want to give millions when
you are beggars yourselves.
436
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,340
Do you think God does not know
that He is being worshipped in
437
00:27:16,340 --> 00:27:20,270
the images and pictures?
If a worshipper should make a
438
00:27:20,270 --> 00:27:24,788
mistake, do you not think God
will know his intent?"
439
00:27:24,788 --> 00:27:29,439
This is, I think one,
of the best examples of that
440
00:27:29,439 --> 00:27:34,847
syncretic view of religion,
that basically all worshippers
441
00:27:34,847 --> 00:27:40,211
are worshipping the same god.
They may do it in different
442
00:27:40,211 --> 00:27:43,318
forms;
they may make mistakes;
443
00:27:43,318 --> 00:27:46,798
they may be mistaken about
where God resides.
444
00:27:46,798 --> 00:27:50,219
But, in this view,
God is so powerful and so
445
00:27:50,219 --> 00:27:55,150
transcendent that God will know
the heart of the worshipper.
446
00:27:55,150 --> 00:28:03,021
So, if you apply that back to
Franny, why does Zooey have this
447
00:28:03,021 --> 00:28:06,115
difficulty?
Why does he have this
448
00:28:06,115 --> 00:28:09,150
difficulty in the specificity of
her prayer?
449
00:28:09,150 --> 00:28:13,358
What is it that is bothering
him?
450
00:28:13,358 --> 00:28:19,367
Well, I think you begin to get
an answer to this tension
451
00:28:19,367 --> 00:28:25,704
between specific doctrine and
syncretic religion when Zooey
452
00:28:25,704 --> 00:28:31,383
gets to the subject of acting,
which is what this second
453
00:28:31,383 --> 00:28:35,859
attempt at speaking to Franny,
this time over the phone,
454
00:28:35,859 --> 00:28:41,067
is concerned with.
There is a detail here of
455
00:28:41,067 --> 00:28:44,673
course that Zooey,
in making a second attempt to
456
00:28:44,673 --> 00:28:49,843
converse with Franny about this,
impersonates his brother,
457
00:28:49,843 --> 00:28:53,911
Buddy, on the phone.
Now I'm just going to leave
458
00:28:53,911 --> 00:28:56,700
that observation,
remind you of that.
459
00:28:56,700 --> 00:28:59,680
I have a way to account for
that, but it's going to take to
460
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,529
the end of my argument to do
that,
461
00:29:01,529 --> 00:29:04,160
so I'm going to argue that
that's significant,
462
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,608
but I'm not going to talk about
why it's significant yet.
463
00:29:07,608 --> 00:29:11,049
But let's look at that
theology of acting.
464
00:29:11,049 --> 00:29:12,589
This is on page 198.
465
00:29:12,589 --> 00:29:15,808
466
00:29:15,808 --> 00:29:19,819
This is coming towards the
climax of their conversation.
467
00:29:19,819 --> 00:29:22,838
468
00:29:22,838 --> 00:29:26,480
Part of what's been bothering
Franny is her frustration with
469
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:30,243
acting, and that's one of the
things that Lane is so surprised
470
00:29:30,243 --> 00:29:32,613
she has given up;
it was the only thing she was
471
00:29:32,613 --> 00:29:35,143
passionate about.
And we know--from reading
472
00:29:35,143 --> 00:29:39,541
Buddy's letter over Zooey's
shoulder in the bathtub--we know
473
00:29:39,541 --> 00:29:44,240
that Zooey had similar concerns
about his own acting career,
474
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:51,482
his own commitment to acting
that Buddy tried to persuade him
475
00:29:51,482 --> 00:29:54,217
out of.
"You can say the Jesus
476
00:29:54,217 --> 00:29:57,568
prayer" [Zooey says to Franny],
"from now 'til doomsday,
477
00:29:57,568 --> 00:30:00,557
but if you don't realize that
the only thing that counts in
478
00:30:00,557 --> 00:30:02,358
the religious life is
detachment,
479
00:30:02,358 --> 00:30:05,430
I don't see how you'll ever
even move an inch.
480
00:30:05,430 --> 00:30:08,179
Detachment, buddy,
and only detachment,
481
00:30:08,179 --> 00:30:11,579
desirelessness,
cessation from all hankering.
482
00:30:11,579 --> 00:30:15,214
It's this business of desiring.
If you want to know the goddam
483
00:30:15,214 --> 00:30:17,730
truth, that makes an actor in
the first place.
484
00:30:17,730 --> 00:30:20,420
Why are you making me tell you
things you already know?
485
00:30:20,420 --> 00:30:24,111
Somewhere along the line in one
damn incarnation or another,
486
00:30:24,111 --> 00:30:26,801
if you like,
you not only had a hankering to
487
00:30:26,801 --> 00:30:30,920
be an actor or an actress,
but to be a good one.
488
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,989
You're stuck with it now.
You can't just walk out on the
489
00:30:33,989 --> 00:30:36,891
results of your own hankerings.
Cause and effect,
490
00:30:36,891 --> 00:30:40,375
buddy, cause and effect.
The only thing you can do now,
491
00:30:40,375 --> 00:30:43,460
the only religious thing you
can do, is act.
492
00:30:43,460 --> 00:30:47,346
Act for God if you want to,
be God's actress if you want
493
00:30:47,346 --> 00:30:51,308
to.
What could be prettier?"
494
00:30:51,308 --> 00:30:57,404
Zooey has this understanding of
the cosmos that suggests that
495
00:30:57,404 --> 00:31:03,398
strong, specific human desires
actually change the course of
496
00:31:03,398 --> 00:31:06,530
cosmic futures.
So somewhere,
497
00:31:06,530 --> 00:31:11,983
maybe in pre-incarnational time
before Franny became Franny,
498
00:31:11,983 --> 00:31:17,575
she wanted to be an actress.
The religious thing Zooey says
499
00:31:17,575 --> 00:31:20,573
is to inhabit that,
to honor that,
500
00:31:20,573 --> 00:31:25,480
to follow up on the results of
that prior desiring.
501
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,773
But why is it acting?
Why specifically acting and why
502
00:31:29,773 --> 00:31:34,358
this weird comment at the end,
"What could be prettier?"
503
00:31:34,358 --> 00:31:38,240
What does prettiness have to do
with this?
504
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,409
Well, if you look at the
description, for instance,
505
00:31:41,409 --> 00:31:44,387
of Zooey's face,
there's a beautiful description
506
00:31:44,387 --> 00:31:47,953
of how his face is beautiful,
in what way his face is
507
00:31:47,953 --> 00:31:51,317
beautiful.
We know that Franny is an
508
00:31:51,317 --> 00:31:56,063
attractive young woman.
We know that she worries about
509
00:31:56,063 --> 00:31:58,548
beauty, and especially in
poetry.
510
00:31:58,548 --> 00:32:01,394
When she's trying to explain
what's wrong,
511
00:32:01,394 --> 00:32:05,348
part of what's wrong is that
when she learns poetry in the
512
00:32:05,348 --> 00:32:08,680
classroom none of it seems
beautiful to her;
513
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,282
it all seems like some other
kind of production,
514
00:32:12,282 --> 00:32:15,931
not the production of beauty.
So prettiness,
515
00:32:15,931 --> 00:32:21,561
beauty, the aesthetic is at the
heart of the spiritual practice
516
00:32:21,561 --> 00:32:26,557
that Zooey is urging upon
Franny, the spiritual practice
517
00:32:26,557 --> 00:32:30,266
of acting.
And I would remind you,
518
00:32:30,266 --> 00:32:35,220
looking back to that passage on
page 65 and into the 66,
519
00:32:35,220 --> 00:32:40,690
that specifically among the
figures that Buddy mentions,
520
00:32:40,690 --> 00:32:44,369
the religious and literary
figures,
521
00:32:44,369 --> 00:32:49,069
we find Shakespeare.
And I think Shakespeare in this
522
00:32:49,069 --> 00:32:54,759
train of figures represents the
literary that is also the
523
00:32:54,759 --> 00:32:58,635
dramatic.
So, in our tradition
524
00:32:58,635 --> 00:33:05,410
Shakespeare is the literary name
above all others.
525
00:33:05,410 --> 00:33:10,775
It's important for Salinger
that Shakespeare was a
526
00:33:10,775 --> 00:33:14,486
dramatist.
It's important for this novel
527
00:33:14,486 --> 00:33:18,534
that Shakespeare was a
dramatist, not just because
528
00:33:18,534 --> 00:33:23,409
Zooey wants Franny to inhabit
acting fully as her desire and
529
00:33:23,409 --> 00:33:27,952
as her religious practice as
opposed to saying the Jesus
530
00:33:27,952 --> 00:33:30,781
prayer.
Acting has a deeper relation to
531
00:33:30,781 --> 00:33:33,857
the novel and here's where we
get back to that question of
532
00:33:33,857 --> 00:33:36,608
being in closed spaces and the
lack of movement.
533
00:33:36,608 --> 00:33:39,861
If you think about this
novel, it has the structures of
534
00:33:39,861 --> 00:33:42,848
drama.
It takes place in small rooms.
535
00:33:42,848 --> 00:33:48,388
If you begin to think about it,
you can almost see the set
536
00:33:48,388 --> 00:33:52,858
changes: in the diner,
on the train station.
537
00:33:52,858 --> 00:33:56,000
That's about the most open
place, on the train platform.
538
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,440
That's about the most open
place we see.
539
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,798
In the diner,
in the apartment:
540
00:34:01,798 --> 00:34:06,750
all you do in the apartment is
move from one room to another.
541
00:34:06,750 --> 00:34:10,786
These are dramatic spaces.
Moreover, the bathroom:
542
00:34:10,786 --> 00:34:17,114
completely a dramatic space.
It even has a curtain hiding
543
00:34:17,114 --> 00:34:23,731
Zooey from his mother.
Acting becomes a religious
544
00:34:23,731 --> 00:34:31,634
practice for much more than
Franny, not just for Franny and
545
00:34:31,634 --> 00:34:37,219
for Zooey 'cause Zooey's an
actor too.
546
00:34:37,219 --> 00:34:43,039
It's a religious practice for
the novel itself.
547
00:34:43,039 --> 00:34:47,538
And that, I would suggest to
you, is where we can begin to
548
00:34:47,538 --> 00:34:51,641
bring some of those obvious
things: the prevalence of
549
00:34:51,641 --> 00:34:54,623
dialog,
those enclosed spaces,
550
00:34:54,623 --> 00:34:59,811
the tone, the exaggerated tone,
the somewhat histrionic
551
00:34:59,811 --> 00:35:03,056
quality,
the combativeness of that
552
00:35:03,056 --> 00:35:05,769
conversation,
its sheer style.
553
00:35:05,769 --> 00:35:10,909
These are great talkers!
But, I would suggest to
554
00:35:10,909 --> 00:35:13,860
you, Salinger is trying to
balance something very
555
00:35:13,860 --> 00:35:16,402
carefully,
that relates back to this
556
00:35:16,402 --> 00:35:20,166
question of doctrine versus
syncretism in the religious
557
00:35:20,166 --> 00:35:23,492
sphere of the novel,
in the religious thematic
558
00:35:23,492 --> 00:35:26,155
material of the novel.
And, for this,
559
00:35:26,155 --> 00:35:29,769
I'd like to look at the very
end of the novel.
560
00:35:29,769 --> 00:35:34,820
561
00:35:34,820 --> 00:35:41,565
Zooey finally suggests that
it's attention to the audience
562
00:35:41,565 --> 00:35:46,889
that makes an actor really a
special actor,
563
00:35:46,889 --> 00:35:52,431
a religious actor,
and he points back to advice
564
00:35:52,431 --> 00:35:56,650
that Buddy gave him
about--sorry,
565
00:35:56,650 --> 00:36:00,385
that Seymour had given
him--about performing on a radio
566
00:36:00,385 --> 00:36:04,101
show.
So, they were all radio show
567
00:36:04,101 --> 00:36:11,141
whiz kids, and one day Zooey had
not wanted to shine his shoes
568
00:36:11,141 --> 00:36:15,760
and says--this is on page
200--that:
569
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,503
"The announcer was a
moron, the studio audience were
570
00:36:18,503 --> 00:36:20,380
all morons, the sponsors were
morons,
571
00:36:20,380 --> 00:36:23,668
and I just damn well wasn't
going to shine my shoes for
572
00:36:23,668 --> 00:36:26,282
them, I told Seymour.
I said they couldn't see them
573
00:36:26,282 --> 00:36:29,230
anyway where we sat.
He said to shine them anyway.
574
00:36:29,230 --> 00:36:32,690
He said to shine them for the
Fat Lady."
575
00:36:32,690 --> 00:36:35,822
Now, why the Fat Lady?
It's this mythical,
576
00:36:35,822 --> 00:36:41,197
incredibly humanly embodied--
whenever you see a fat lady in a
577
00:36:41,197 --> 00:36:44,034
novel,
one of the first things you
578
00:36:44,034 --> 00:36:47,521
want to ask is:
why does that person need to be
579
00:36:47,521 --> 00:36:51,076
excessively embodied?
That's what fatness is in a
580
00:36:51,076 --> 00:36:54,572
novel like this.
It's excessive embodiment,
581
00:36:54,572 --> 00:36:56,782
the human.
That's what this woman
582
00:36:56,782 --> 00:37:00,829
represents, the human.
Connect to the human audience;
583
00:37:00,829 --> 00:37:06,820
respect the human audience.
Act for them, to them.
584
00:37:06,820 --> 00:37:11,623
Don't act as if they are just
some bunch of Philistines out
585
00:37:11,623 --> 00:37:14,769
there who can't appreciate your
art.
586
00:37:14,769 --> 00:37:22,014
And then he says to Franny:
"I'll tell you a terrible
587
00:37:22,014 --> 00:37:23,719
secret.
Are you listening to me?
588
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,869
There isn't anyone out there
who isn't Seymour's Fat Lady.
589
00:37:28,869 --> 00:37:31,751
That includes your Professor
Tupper, buddy,
590
00:37:31,751 --> 00:37:34,768
and all his goddamn cousins by
the dozens.
591
00:37:34,768 --> 00:37:38,949
There isn't anyone anywhere who
isn't Seymour's Fat Lady.
592
00:37:38,949 --> 00:37:42,219
Don't you know that?
Don't you know that goddamn
593
00:37:42,219 --> 00:37:44,954
secret yet?
And don't you know--Listen to
594
00:37:44,954 --> 00:37:48,378
me, now.
Don't you know who the Fat Lady
595
00:37:48,378 --> 00:37:50,710
really is?
Ah, buddy.
596
00:37:50,710 --> 00:37:54,963
Ah, buddy, it's Christ Himself,
Christ Himself,
597
00:37:54,963 --> 00:37:57,849
buddy."
This seems like a completely
598
00:37:57,849 --> 00:38:00,900
Christian answer to Zooey's
problem, and we're back on the
599
00:38:00,900 --> 00:38:04,655
horns of that dilemma.
Is this a syncretic religious
600
00:38:04,655 --> 00:38:07,489
vision, or is it a Christian
one?
601
00:38:07,489 --> 00:38:11,989
But look what follows.
This is not the last word.
602
00:38:11,989 --> 00:38:14,297
For joy,
apparently, it was all Franny
603
00:38:14,297 --> 00:38:16,980
could do to hold the phone even
with both hands.
604
00:38:16,980 --> 00:38:20,059
For a foolish half minute or so
there was no other words,
605
00:38:20,059 --> 00:38:22,534
no further speech,
then "I can't talk anymore,
606
00:38:22,534 --> 00:38:24,605
buddy."
The sound of a phone being
607
00:38:24,605 --> 00:38:28,505
replaced on its catch followed.
Franny took in her breath
608
00:38:28,505 --> 00:38:32,949
slightly but continued to hold
the phone to her ear.
609
00:38:32,949 --> 00:38:36,811
A dial tone of course followed
the formal break in the
610
00:38:36,811 --> 00:38:39,735
connection.
She appeared to find it
611
00:38:39,735 --> 00:38:44,804
extraordinarily beautiful to
listen to, rather as if it were
612
00:38:44,804 --> 00:38:49,443
the best possible substitute for
the primordial silence
613
00:38:49,443 --> 00:38:53,496
itself.
The dial tone is that state of
614
00:38:53,496 --> 00:38:58,262
awareness of the divine that
Buddy speaks of when he says-
615
00:38:58,262 --> 00:39:02,610
when he speaks of being with God
before God said,
616
00:39:02,610 --> 00:39:06,413
"Let there be light."
Zooey's voice breaking that
617
00:39:06,413 --> 00:39:09,905
dial tone in the beginning in
his phone call,
618
00:39:09,905 --> 00:39:13,400
and then the resumption of it
afterwards,
619
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:18,005
that dial tone encases Zooey's
voice, so that what Zooey says
620
00:39:18,005 --> 00:39:22,230
to her is one of the rays of
light of God's creation,
621
00:39:22,230 --> 00:39:24,936
one of those things,
like Shakespeare,
622
00:39:24,936 --> 00:39:28,010
that is part of the whole
created world,
623
00:39:28,010 --> 00:39:32,840
but what Franny can tune into,
after hearing his voice,
624
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,239
is that very essential divine
sound,
625
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:43,315
meaningless sound.
And so, this is how Salinger
626
00:39:43,315 --> 00:39:48,590
balances the syncretic,
the sort of empty mysticism of
627
00:39:48,590 --> 00:39:52,416
Seymour and Buddy,
with the embodied,
628
00:39:52,416 --> 00:39:57,532
doctrinal, specific insistence
that we see from Zooey,
629
00:39:57,532 --> 00:40:01,780
from the insistence on human
specificity,
630
00:40:01,780 --> 00:40:07,548
the Fat Lady,
the very material human fleshly
631
00:40:07,548 --> 00:40:11,902
person.
Salinger's own novel performs
632
00:40:11,902 --> 00:40:18,030
in this way, and that's how you
would want to think about
633
00:40:18,030 --> 00:40:22,079
moments like on the bottom of
180.
634
00:40:22,079 --> 00:40:26,070
635
00:40:26,070 --> 00:40:32,340
This is describing the bedroom
of Seymour and Buddy as Zooey
636
00:40:32,340 --> 00:40:35,351
walks in.
A stranger with a flair
637
00:40:35,351 --> 00:40:39,226
for cocktail party descriptive
prose might have commented that
638
00:40:39,226 --> 00:40:41,021
the room,
at a quick glance,
639
00:40:41,021 --> 00:40:44,177
looked as if it had once been
tenanted by two struggling
640
00:40:44,177 --> 00:40:46,989
twelve-year-old lawyers or
researchists.
641
00:40:46,989 --> 00:40:54,463
And then if you flip back
to--let's see--172 describing
642
00:40:54,463 --> 00:40:59,445
Zooey's sweaty shirt,
"His shirt was,
643
00:40:59,445 --> 00:41:05,260
in the familiar phrase,
wringing wet."
644
00:41:05,260 --> 00:41:08,862
And there are lots of moments
like this, self-conscious
645
00:41:08,862 --> 00:41:11,547
moments of style.
So, "in the familiar phrase,
646
00:41:11,547 --> 00:41:13,978
'wringing wet,'" he's saying,
"I'm about to use a
647
00:41:13,978 --> 00:41:17,010
cliché.
Here it is. There it is."
648
00:41:17,010 --> 00:41:22,349
He says someone with a flair
for cocktail party conversation,
649
00:41:22,349 --> 00:41:25,018
a witticism,
would say this.
650
00:41:25,018 --> 00:41:28,759
He gives it to us,
but he frames it as an
651
00:41:28,759 --> 00:41:32,733
affectation of style.
So, what Salinger,
652
00:41:32,733 --> 00:41:38,302
I think, shows us is that
affectation, without something
653
00:41:38,302 --> 00:41:43,469
like love, is just affectation,
and that's what Lane
654
00:41:43,469 --> 00:41:46,672
represents.
That's the affectation of
655
00:41:46,672 --> 00:41:49,268
literature without any human
connection.
656
00:41:49,268 --> 00:41:52,670
That's why when he talks on and
on, it's as if Franny isn't even
657
00:41:52,670 --> 00:41:56,333
there listening to him.
He's been going on a quarter
658
00:41:56,333 --> 00:41:59,639
hour, and he's just hitting his
stride.
659
00:41:59,639 --> 00:42:04,581
Franny, Zooey,
Buddy, Bessie:
660
00:42:04,581 --> 00:42:12,880
they all try to speak directly
to each other.
661
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:18,849
The family language is what
makes them very human;
662
00:42:18,849 --> 00:42:23,472
they embody this very specific
family language.And so,
663
00:42:23,472 --> 00:42:28,014
I would argue to you that
Salinger imagines literature as
664
00:42:28,014 --> 00:42:33,117
a performance of this kind,
a performance of a language of
665
00:42:33,117 --> 00:42:38,380
family love that is nevertheless
also an aesthetic language.
666
00:42:38,380 --> 00:42:42,431
And I think,
actually, probably the best
667
00:42:42,431 --> 00:42:46,380
image of that is in Seymour's
diary.
668
00:42:46,380 --> 00:42:49,373
When Zooey sits down to make
that phone call,
669
00:42:49,373 --> 00:42:53,659
he opens up Seymour's diary and
he sees Seymour's account of his
670
00:42:53,659 --> 00:42:57,576
birthday celebration,
where the family had put on a
671
00:42:57,576 --> 00:43:00,940
vaudeville show right in their
living room.
672
00:43:00,940 --> 00:43:05,230
Remember, his parents are
vaudevillians.
673
00:43:05,230 --> 00:43:09,275
And that description,
which I won't read just because
674
00:43:09,275 --> 00:43:13,090
we're running out of time,
it's on 181 and 182.
675
00:43:13,090 --> 00:43:19,280
You can look at it yourself.
It's brimming with pleasure and
676
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:23,996
love.
This is why Buddy really can't
677
00:43:23,996 --> 00:43:31,969
insist that Zooey is wrong about
this being a religious novel,
678
00:43:31,969 --> 00:43:37,543
because being a religious novel
and being a love story are
679
00:43:37,543 --> 00:43:41,260
finally for Salinger the same
thing.
680
00:43:41,260 --> 00:43:46,780
It's the performance of human
connection.
681
00:43:46,780 --> 00:43:49,309
That's the phone line;
that's conversation;
682
00:43:49,309 --> 00:43:53,740
that's letters.
The performance of family
683
00:43:53,740 --> 00:43:57,742
conversation is like acting,
and that is why Zooey
684
00:43:57,742 --> 00:44:02,210
impersonates Buddy;
he's acting.
685
00:44:02,210 --> 00:44:05,253
But Franny can hear the
specific voice,
686
00:44:05,253 --> 00:44:09,898
and this is when you know that
Franny is not just a sort of
687
00:44:09,898 --> 00:44:13,706
empty air head.
She may be mistaken about who
688
00:44:13,706 --> 00:44:18,438
she's praying to in the Jesus
prayer, but she damn well knows
689
00:44:18,438 --> 00:44:22,932
the timbre of her brother's
voice and his particularity of
690
00:44:22,932 --> 00:44:25,373
speech.
And so, when he tries to
691
00:44:25,373 --> 00:44:28,300
imitate Buddy,
she finds him out very quickly.
692
00:44:28,300 --> 00:44:33,139
And this is when you know that
Franny really does benefit from
693
00:44:33,139 --> 00:44:37,818
Seymour and Buddy's religious
education in the same way that
694
00:44:37,818 --> 00:44:41,105
Zooey has.
And so, if we step back for
695
00:44:41,105 --> 00:44:45,246
a minute now from my reading,
there are a couple of things I
696
00:44:45,246 --> 00:44:47,492
want to say.
First of all,
697
00:44:47,492 --> 00:44:51,255
I hope you can see,
using that as a model,
698
00:44:51,255 --> 00:44:56,577
how I went from big claims
about the novel into specificity
699
00:44:56,577 --> 00:45:01,940
to support those claims.
That's the structure of any
700
00:45:01,940 --> 00:45:06,735
good literary argument.
The attention moves from the
701
00:45:06,735 --> 00:45:10,159
very small to the large and back
again.
702
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:13,887
There is a kind of rhythm to
that, that folds in those
703
00:45:13,887 --> 00:45:18,389
obvious parts of the novel to a
more thematic set of concerns,
704
00:45:18,389 --> 00:45:23,233
in this case about the
religious philosophy of this
705
00:45:23,233 --> 00:45:26,170
novel.
So, as you think about writing
706
00:45:26,170 --> 00:45:30,561
papers, go through that two-step
process of thinking about the
707
00:45:30,561 --> 00:45:34,882
large picture of what a novel is
doing as a piece of literary
708
00:45:34,882 --> 00:45:37,375
art,
and then thinking about a
709
00:45:37,375 --> 00:45:41,389
focused set of concerns.
And, in the final development
710
00:45:41,389 --> 00:45:44,679
of your paper,
making sure that those two can
711
00:45:44,679 --> 00:45:48,347
relate to one another.
The second thing I want to say
712
00:45:48,347 --> 00:45:51,764
is less about paper writing,
and more about the trajectory
713
00:45:51,764 --> 00:45:55,300
of this course and what we're
seeing in common between these
714
00:45:55,300 --> 00:45:58,079
novels.
So, you can read this very
715
00:45:58,079 --> 00:46:03,963
closely to On the Road.
If Dean cared for "nothing
716
00:46:03,963 --> 00:46:10,079
but for everything in
principle," you could say,
717
00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:16,626
conversely, that Salinger cares
for everything in particular,
718
00:46:16,626 --> 00:46:21,289
and in principle,
nothingness.
719
00:46:21,289 --> 00:46:27,639
It's nothingness that is the
mystical state rather than
720
00:46:27,639 --> 00:46:31,507
everythingness.
And it's interesting to think
721
00:46:31,507 --> 00:46:34,469
about whether those two are
really opposites.
722
00:46:34,469 --> 00:46:38,802
I think these novels imagined
them to be opposites,
723
00:46:38,802 --> 00:46:44,000
but it's something for you to
think about, about whether they
724
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,603
really are.
So, Zooey's specificity is the
725
00:46:47,603 --> 00:46:51,670
specificity of doctrine,
but it's also the specificity
726
00:46:51,670 --> 00:46:55,510
and more importantly the
specificity of person.
727
00:46:55,510 --> 00:47:01,030
So that's the everything that
he cares about,
728
00:47:01,030 --> 00:47:03,237
person.
I will stop there,
729
00:47:03,237 --> 00:47:07,012
and please bring both On the
Road and Franny and Zooey
730
00:47:07,012 --> 00:47:09,902
to section this week.
And, by the way,
731
00:47:09,902 --> 00:47:13,159
one last thing:
If you've been sketchy about
732
00:47:13,159 --> 00:47:17,250
your section attendance,
I suggest that you try to pull
733
00:47:17,250 --> 00:47:22,346
up your socks and go.
We will be talking about papers
734
00:47:22,346 --> 00:47:25,387
in the section.
It will be helpful to you,
735
00:47:25,387 --> 00:47:28,297
and it will also give you a
chance to talk about these
736
00:47:28,297 --> 00:47:28,000
books, so please do go.
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