Motivation and Conflicts of Sergeant X In the short story, “For Esme - with Love and Squalor” by J.D. Salinger, the narrator faces many hardships. Sergeant X, a young man fighting in World War II, struggles with his motivation, and with his internal conflict based on the struggles of the war. He chooses to let the harshness of war consume him, and the only way he recovers is communication with Esme, a young girl he met while in London. Esme saves Sergeant X by taking him out of the present and reminding him of what good things he has in his life. The author wants the reader to really think about Sergeant X’s motivation, and his internal conflicts. He wants the reader to be able to relate and learn from Sergeant X’s experiences. Sergeant
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His conflict is within his own head because of how the war effects his mental health. Sergeant X’s mental state in the beginning shows him as an intelligent man who knew what he was doing. Esme remarks that he “[seems] quite intelligent for an American” (Salinger 10). He seems conflicted as to what to say to Esme, so he would not insult or bother her. Throughout the course of the short story, Sergeant X’s mental state is implied to deteriorate as when he attempts to write and sees “with fright that [runs] through his whole body -- that what he had written was almost entirely illegible” (Salinger 20). This shows how the conflict in his head from the stress of the war is affecting his ability to think and function properly. His jeep partner, Corporal Z, describes X as a “goddamn corpse” and tells him he has the shakes (Salinger 21). In the end, Sergeant X appears almost sedated, like an apparition of his former self. When Esme writes to X, he seems like his old self, and “sat with [the watch] in his hand for another long period” (Salinger 26-27). X’s conflict was caused by the barbarity of the war, but he is ultimately saved by Esme’s
His conflict is within his own head because of how the war effects his mental health. Sergeant X’s mental state in the beginning shows him as an intelligent man who knew what he was doing. Esme remarks that he “[seems] quite intelligent for an American” (Salinger 10). He seems conflicted as to what to say to Esme, so he would not insult or bother her. Throughout the course of the short story, Sergeant X’s mental state is implied to deteriorate as when he attempts to write and sees “with fright that [runs] through his whole body -- that what he had written was almost entirely illegible” (Salinger 20). This shows how the conflict in his head from the stress of the war is affecting his ability to think and function properly. His jeep partner, Corporal Z, describes X as a “goddamn corpse” and tells him he has the shakes (Salinger 21). In the end, Sergeant X appears almost sedated, like an apparition of his former self. When Esme writes to X, he seems like his old self, and “sat with [the watch] in his hand for another long period” (Salinger 26-27). X’s conflict was caused by the barbarity of the war, but he is ultimately saved by Esme’s