For Esme--with Love and Compassion: J. D. Salinger's "positive" art

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dc.contributor.advisorIsle, Walter W.en_US
dc.creatorHempel, Peter Andrewen_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-22T21:58:19Zen_US
dc.date.available2016-04-22T21:58:19Zen_US
dc.date.issued1967en_US
dc.description.abstractThe basic conflict dominating Salinger's fiction, particularly his earlier work, is the conflict between the "innocence" of the protagonist and the "squalor" of the world around him. The protagonist must adapt or die. In this thesis I Propose to explore Salinger's use of an underlying growth pattern as a structural basis for much of his "positive" art. In Salinger's "positive" work the protagonist is able to come to some sort of resolution of this conflict and thus attain' at least a partial integration into society; the "negative" alternatives are spiritual death or suicide. "Growth" for the protagonist involves a movement from an immature "love," which is uncompromising in its insistence upon the purity of the objects of its love, to a mature "compassion," a love combined with an understanding of the "fallen" human condition, which can accept imperfection rather than being forced to reject an "imperfect" object or person. In "For Esme--with Love and Squalor," this change occurs in both the narrator and Esme, though with the narrator the focus is upon the emotional crisis of the conflict, while with Esme the focus is upon the transition from "love" to "compassion" as part of the overall growth to adulthood. This pattern serves also as the structural basis for The Catcher in the Rye and "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period," as well as, to a certain extent, Franny and Zooey. In my final chapter I attempt to indicate how this "love-compassion" pattern is reflected in Salinger's later works either in form or in his attempts to explore philosophical solutions to the conflict of innocence and squalor.en_US
dc.format.digitalOriginreformatted digitalen_US
dc.format.extent101 ppen_US
dc.identifier.callnoThesis Engl. 1967 Hempelen_US
dc.identifier.citationHempel, Peter Andrew. "For Esme--with Love and Compassion: J. D. Salinger's "positive" art." (1967) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/89733">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/89733</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.digitalRICE0764en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/89733en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.titleFor Esme--with Love and Compassion: J. D. Salinger's "positive" arten_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen_US
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