Innocence is a word that is often connection with a sense nativity or foolishness. However, there is a goodness in innocence that seems to escape people after years of untold trial. Those who have gone through life bearing burdens find themselves losing their innocence, after seeing unknown horrors. Author J.D. Salinger captures this thought in his short story, “For Esme-With Love and Squalor”. His story tells the tale of Sergeant X, a man who has been drastically shaped by his time in the army. Sergent X is changed by the children he meets, their outlook on life changes his as well. The innocence that a child has to offer affects even those who have been hardened by life.
Salinger’s character begins narrating his story after receiving a wedding invitation that was to take place in England. This moment draws him back in time to April 1944 when he, as a young army man, lived in Devon, England. Spending his days being trained in specialized pre-Invasion course, where “rumor had it, we were to be assigned to infantry and airborne division mustered for the D Day landings” (92). The war has affected the Sergeant, whether he knows it or not, war has made him different. With the severity of this …show more content…
The words in the Nazi German pamphlet on his writing desk really speak about what he has see, “Dear God, life is hell” (110). The horrors of war understated for Sergeant X in that one sentence. It is a melancholy feeling, he has undergone and done awful things but there on his writing desk is a letter from the quirky Esme, wishing him well and telling him about her life. The fulfilment of her promise provides a bit of Hope for the hardened sergeant, the goodness that Esme retained gives him a light (metaphorically speaking) and a watch (literally speaking) and a new appreciation for childhood
Salinger’s character begins narrating his story after receiving a wedding invitation that was to take place in England. This moment draws him back in time to April 1944 when he, as a young army man, lived in Devon, England. Spending his days being trained in specialized pre-Invasion course, where “rumor had it, we were to be assigned to infantry and airborne division mustered for the D Day landings” (92). The war has affected the Sergeant, whether he knows it or not, war has made him different. With the severity of this …show more content…
The words in the Nazi German pamphlet on his writing desk really speak about what he has see, “Dear God, life is hell” (110). The horrors of war understated for Sergeant X in that one sentence. It is a melancholy feeling, he has undergone and done awful things but there on his writing desk is a letter from the quirky Esme, wishing him well and telling him about her life. The fulfilment of her promise provides a bit of Hope for the hardened sergeant, the goodness that Esme retained gives him a light (metaphorically speaking) and a watch (literally speaking) and a new appreciation for childhood