Jingyi Long
First Impression of Just Before the War with the Eskimos
J.D. Salinger’s Just Before the War with the Eskimos was in my opinion, very different from any of the other short stories I’ve read before. The story started off with a dilemma for the main character, Ginnie, because she wanted to ask her friend Selena to pay half of the fare for the cab that they shared, and to pay her back for all the times that she had to pay the whole fare by herself. Selena agrees to pay her back albeit reluctantly because she thinks that it’s a petty matter. Ginnie then follows Selena back to her home where Selena has to ask her sick mother for extra money, which Selena stresses to Ginnie. The events after this mainly take place in the living room …show more content…
I’m used to short stories being able to convey a lot of details, dialogue and actions in a short span of text in order to enrapt the reader and make them think. This often includes dropping hints about the theme of the text near the beginning or middle of the story. In Just Before the War with the Eskimos however, I couldn't distinguish a concrete theme after reading the story once; I could only faintly pick out a theme of rejection. This was a pleasant surprise as it made me think aa there was clearly a theme in the story but it wasn't extremely obvious. I also expected the story to be focused mainly on Ginnie and Selena and was waiting for Selena to interrupt Ginnie’s conversation with her brother. I assumed that Ginnie’s conversations with Franklin and Eric would lead to another another set of events and was surprised to see that the story ended with Ginnie’s refusal of the money. After reading the story again, the theme of rejection was more prominent. Ginnie repeatedly refused Franklin’s offer to give her a chicken sandwich and Ginnie’s sister Joan never replied to Franklin’s letters which implies that she rejected him. The army did not accept him because of his heart condition which led him to work in an airplane factory. Due to society’s continuous rejection of him, Franklin may have began to reject society itself as he quit going to both his college and
First Impression of Just Before the War with the Eskimos
J.D. Salinger’s Just Before the War with the Eskimos was in my opinion, very different from any of the other short stories I’ve read before. The story started off with a dilemma for the main character, Ginnie, because she wanted to ask her friend Selena to pay half of the fare for the cab that they shared, and to pay her back for all the times that she had to pay the whole fare by herself. Selena agrees to pay her back albeit reluctantly because she thinks that it’s a petty matter. Ginnie then follows Selena back to her home where Selena has to ask her sick mother for extra money, which Selena stresses to Ginnie. The events after this mainly take place in the living room …show more content…
I’m used to short stories being able to convey a lot of details, dialogue and actions in a short span of text in order to enrapt the reader and make them think. This often includes dropping hints about the theme of the text near the beginning or middle of the story. In Just Before the War with the Eskimos however, I couldn't distinguish a concrete theme after reading the story once; I could only faintly pick out a theme of rejection. This was a pleasant surprise as it made me think aa there was clearly a theme in the story but it wasn't extremely obvious. I also expected the story to be focused mainly on Ginnie and Selena and was waiting for Selena to interrupt Ginnie’s conversation with her brother. I assumed that Ginnie’s conversations with Franklin and Eric would lead to another another set of events and was surprised to see that the story ended with Ginnie’s refusal of the money. After reading the story again, the theme of rejection was more prominent. Ginnie repeatedly refused Franklin’s offer to give her a chicken sandwich and Ginnie’s sister Joan never replied to Franklin’s letters which implies that she rejected him. The army did not accept him because of his heart condition which led him to work in an airplane factory. Due to society’s continuous rejection of him, Franklin may have began to reject society itself as he quit going to both his college and