J.D. Salinger’s Attempt to Find Something to Love in Squalor The instances of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found with J.D. Salinger’s short story, For Esme — with Love and Squalor, are immediately definable for a contemporary reader. Doctor Matthew Friedman of U.S. Veteran Affairs notes that it wasn’t until 1980 that PTSD was even a diagnosable disorder. It is fascinating to realize that Salinger most likely was writing about his own experiences in For Esme — with Love and Squalor, as Thomas Medicus articulates in his article, “J.D. Salinger’s psychological catastrophe”, that not only did Salinger experience the horrors of D-Day and the following battles in Germany but he also participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration
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Michel Foucault in the book, Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology, describes narrative as a way for the writer to “ward off death”, in that every time the narrative is told, the writer is made to live (206). Writing For Esme — with Love and Squalor, can be seen as Salinger’s attempt to show how he beat death and war, even though it wasn’t pretty. This corroborates with the assertions of Michelle Balaev in her essay, “Trends in Literary Trauma Theory”, that state, “the defining feature of the trauma novel is the transformation of the self ignited bey an external, often terrifying experience” (149). Salinger uses different narrative techniques to portray his dealings with trauma, such as analepsis, irony, the perceived presence of the …show more content…
What annoys Sergeant X is the other American soldiers happy-go-lucky attitude. He doesn’t understand how they can care about their stylish new Eisenhower jackets and how many medals they can wear at once, while they inhabit the ruined former home of their enemy. Sergeant X doesn’t make himself into a hero in this story, in fact, he highlights his flaws. On the opposite spectrum is Clay, who asks to “fix up” his letters for him; using the writing skills of Sergeant X to make himself look better in his letters to his
Michel Foucault in the book, Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology, describes narrative as a way for the writer to “ward off death”, in that every time the narrative is told, the writer is made to live (206). Writing For Esme — with Love and Squalor, can be seen as Salinger’s attempt to show how he beat death and war, even though it wasn’t pretty. This corroborates with the assertions of Michelle Balaev in her essay, “Trends in Literary Trauma Theory”, that state, “the defining feature of the trauma novel is the transformation of the self ignited bey an external, often terrifying experience” (149). Salinger uses different narrative techniques to portray his dealings with trauma, such as analepsis, irony, the perceived presence of the …show more content…
What annoys Sergeant X is the other American soldiers happy-go-lucky attitude. He doesn’t understand how they can care about their stylish new Eisenhower jackets and how many medals they can wear at once, while they inhabit the ruined former home of their enemy. Sergeant X doesn’t make himself into a hero in this story, in fact, he highlights his flaws. On the opposite spectrum is Clay, who asks to “fix up” his letters for him; using the writing skills of Sergeant X to make himself look better in his letters to his