Hapworth 16, 1924 | Techniques

Hapworth 16, 1924 Techniques

Salinger appears to have departed from the traditional mode of narration here.

Buddy actually introduces or presents Seymour's long letter with its account of his own psyche and his experiences at camp, and of his and Buddy's literary productions. First-person narration notwithstanding, there is such a degree of authorial self-indulgence in the story that Salinger seems not to have kept in mind the needs of his common readers. Seymour's discussion of his life and activities, his opinions and his arrogant "talking down" to his parents and siblings are all too preposterous to be taken at face value. Seymour's letter from camp does not even seem to represent wishful thinking, stream-of-consciousness fantasy, metafiction, or satire.

Warren French is also critical of the excesses and bombastic pretentiousness of the Seymour letter. He suggests that Salinger, because of his self-imposed isolation from the general public, had lost his touch...
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