Down at the dinghy

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Down at the Dinghy (German first translation under the title Down at the Boot by Elisabeth Schnack , 1966) is a short story by the American writer JD Salinger , written in the summer of 1948 and first published in Harper's in April 1949 . This short story was added to the Nine Stories collection in 1953 (German title: Nine stories translated by Elisabeth Schnack and Annemarie and Heinrich Böll , 1966).

Sample photo: dinghy on the water

In this story by Salinger, which is one of his early stories about the Glass family, Boo Boo Tannenbaum, née Glass, tries to regain the trust of her four-year-old son Lionel, who, disturbed, withdrew to his father's boat ( dinghy ) after having one Overheard a vicious and derogatory remark from the domestic servant about his father.

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Sandra, the domestic servant of the New York Christmas tree family, feels cut off from the social city life during a long summer vacation of the family in a remote holiday resort at the lake and is therefore extremely dissatisfied and disaffected. During a conversation with Mrs. Snell, the housekeeper of the family, she maliciously referred to her Jewish employer Mr. Tannenbaum as "kike" . Lionel, the family's four-year-old son, happens to be there and picks up on this derogatory remark. Without knowing the exact meaning of the desolate anti-Semitic swear word "kike" , he intuitively senses the hostility and contempt for his father that is expressed in the swear word, and tears away from home in distress, as he has done several times before with offensive experiences did. He hides on his father's small boat, which is on the lake at the jetty about two hundred meters from the holiday home.

His mother Boo Boo Tannenbaum succeeds after several attempts in a very loving and sensitive way to win back the trust of her son down at the jetty. In order to reassure the little boy, she makes him believe that “kike” has the same meaning as the almost homophonic word “kite” (dt. “Dragon”) in English . On the way back to the house, the two compete in a race that Lionel wins.

Interpretative approach

As in Salinger's previously published short stories, Down at the Dinghy has a similar narrative pattern with a clear three-part structure. There is hardly any external action, instead, longer dialogue passages are presented directly in scenic representation and personal narrative form . The number of people involved is limited; Essentially, it is about three characters , Boo Boo Tannenbaum, the mother, her son Lionel and Sandra, the maid, to whom the maid Mrs. Snell is initially placed as a marginal figure. The narrated time on an afternoon in late summer comprises a short period of about an hour in which the reader is shown a dramatic excerpt from the coexistence of three people, mostly in direct dialogical presentation without comment or evaluation by the narrator.

The first part, which immediately introduces the main event, already indicates the conflict, which at the beginning is still incomprehensible to the reader; the second part provides the reader with Lionel's prehistory as an exposition and thus enables a first preliminary understanding of the situation; in the third part, in which Lionel himself appears as the acting person, the conflict is fully explained and at the same time resolved in the reconciliation between mother and son.

The introduction to the story consists of a conversation between the disgruntled Sandra and the attendant Mrs. Snell. She wears exclusive clothing that she bought used, such as a worn Hattie Carnegie hat that she is so proud of that she never takes it off. Her similarly worn leather bag is an equally exclusive branded item, and her matches come from the posh “ Stork Club ”, which she herself has in all probability never visited (p. 74 f.)

Sandra's behavior clearly shows her nervousness and fear of something that Salinger initially withholds from the reader in order to build up narrative tension. As the personal narrator reports, Sandra has already looked out the window about fifteen to twenty times ( “some fifteen or twenty times” , p. 74) ; their pinched lips ( "mouth set tight" , p. 74) and their gestures, such as. B. the absent-minded untying and closing of her apron ribbon (p. 74), as well as her constantly repeated self-reassurance "I do n't worry about it [sic]" ( "I'm not gonna worry about it" , p. 74 ff.) also suggest their inner restlessness and tension. For the time being, the reader only learns of Sandra's fear that "he" is telling "her" something. From the conversation it quickly becomes clear that "he" is obviously the son of the house, the four-year-old kid ( "four-year-old kid" , p. 76), who appears unexpectedly and inaudibly everywhere and apparently overheard something, that wasn't meant for his ears.

At the beginning of the second part it becomes clear who is meant by the personal pronoun "she", namely the "lady of the house" ( "the lady of the house" , p. 77) and mother of the child in question, the 25-year-old Boo Boo Christmas tree. Boo Boo Tannenbaum is described by the narrator as a “narrow-hipped young woman” ( “almost hipless girl of twenty-five” , p. 77) with “shapeless, colorless, brittle hair” ( “styleless, colorless, brittle hair” , p. 77) described. Her clothing shows that she attaches little importance to the appearance and also does not conform to conventional (clothing) norms: She wears simple "knee-length drill trousers, a black sweater with turtleneck and socks and sports shoes" ( "knee-length jeans, a black turtleneck pullover, and socks and loafers ” , p. 77).

In contrast to Mrs. Snell, who is shaped by her class consciousness and social conventions and tries to pretend a higher social position, Mrs. Tannenbaum shows herself as a natural, open person; despite her inconspicuous appearance, her strange name ( “her joke of a name” , p. 77) and her comfortable but undemanding clothing, as a born Glass (p. 80) she is “a stunning and final girl” (p. 77, German translation: "an amazing and clearly young woman.").

When she is looking for something in the refrigerator, she whistles "unmelodically through her teeth and wiggles in time with the slightly pendulous rear end" ( "she whistled, unmelodically, through her teeth, keeping time with little uninhibited pendulum action of her rear end" , P. 77). Their appearance and demeanor are not determined by external conventions or considerations, but are only motivated by their own wishes and feelings.

In this respect she also differs from Sandra, who for her part clearly thinks in terms of group membership or group terms - “You have your friends here and everything” ( “You got your social life here and all” , p. 76).

Mrs. Tannenbaum will try to lure her son out of the boat; In response to Mrs. Snell's question, with her detailed account of Lionel's attempts to escape so far, this statement, which is also incomprehensible to the reader, becomes clearer. The subsequent history shows that the extremely sensitive boy always sought protection by fleeing when he could no longer endure the demanding or attacking environment. For example, after a playmate made an offensive false claim that he smelly, he fled to Central Park in New York at night as a three-year-old , where the police found him half frozen to death (p. 78). At the age of two and a half, he had fled to the basement of the Tannenbaums' New York apartment building because one of his friends had told him that she had a worm in her thermos bottle (p. 79). This earlier behavior shows the importance of his current refuge on the boat on the lake and explains at the same time why Sandra is constantly at the kitchen window on the lake side of the holiday home (p. 74). At this point it is also clear to the reader that Lionel obviously picked up a malicious, hurtful remark from Sandra and withdrew into his world of escape, disturbed. Sandra, on the other hand, is plagued by the fear that the boy might tell his mother what she said.

In the third part of the short story, the mother tries to bring the boy back from his refuge, to find out the reason for his withdrawal and to reconcile Lionel with the real world with her love and understanding. As an awake and overly sensitive woman ( "immoderately perceptive" , p. 77) she is aware that she must not force the sensitive, easily vulnerable Lionel to return to the real world with her maternal authority, but that she must be very carefully and cautiously needs to go to the boys to regain his confidence. By whistling the song of the " Kentucky Babe " (p. 80) she indicates that she intends to bring Lionell back into the "protective realm of maternal love and care"; however, it does not show this to the boy, but addresses him as equal on the child's level. Outwardly, too, she goes to the boy's level by kneeling down and addressing him as a “friend”, but not as a son who has to follow the mother's instructions.

Lionel is " less than an oar's length away " ( "less than an oar's length away" , p. 80) and does not look up at her. The challenging and imperfect world of adults where you like a "lion" ( lion ) must be to assert themselves and to preserve its integrity, is separated from the ideal desired world of his childhood fantasy in which even "a little lion" ( Lionel ) can prove himself victorious and unchallenged. It turns out to be difficult for Boo Boo to create a bridge between these two worlds; their attempt to approach Lionel through a childlike pirate game fails; the distraught boy withdraws even further and averts his gaze exclusively on the boat deck ( “He kept his eyes exclusively on the deck of the boat” , p. 80). Only after Boo Boo introduced himself as “Vice-Admiral Tannenbaum” (p. 80) does she provoke Lionel's contradiction and thus a first reaction on his part: “You are not an admiral. You're a lady. "( " You aren't an admiral. You're a lady. ", P. 80)

When his mother asked who said that, Lionel replied almost inaudibly: "Daddy" (p. 81). Boo Boo knows her son's wrong breathing technique, which emphasizes words with a lowering of his voice instead of a lift, and can draw the first conclusions from his articulation that Lionel's father must obviously have some connection with the boy's escape from reality - a conjecture that will be confirmed below.

Lionel's mother then gradually tries to deepen the established contact. Before that, however, it is described in the story that Lionel wears a "clean white shirt with a colorful ostrich on his chest that plays the violin " ( "a clean white T-shirt with a dye picture, across the chest, of Jerome the." ostrich playing the violin " , p. 81). This description serves to indirectly characterize Lionel. The boy, who is shaken from the ugliness and cruelty of the adult world, wears the image of an animal on his shirt that counteracts attacks by sticking its head in the sand. As it were symbolically , the bouquet becomes an expression for people who react in the same way to the challenges of reality. Lionel has "stuck his head so far in the sand" that even his mother's offer to blow "every secret bugle call" (p. 82) for him, which only she knows as "Admiral" cannot lure him out of the reserve. The boy only answers with a categorical "No" and breaks off the contact that has just been established by turning his gaze to the boat deck again (p. 82 f.)

The diffuse, “trembling and refractive ” ( “wavering and refractional” ) light of the sun in the late afternoon is also confirmed here in a figurative metaphorical sense; the statement made in this context that Boo Boo finds it “strangely difficult” to “keep Lionel in view” ( “queerly difficult to keep Lionel in steady focus” , p. 80) turns out to be an additional visual prediction at this point Area on the problem of interpersonal contact. Nevertheless, Boo Boo does not give up her efforts and switches to more direct means after the failure of her indirect or playful approaches by reminding Lionel of his previous promise not to run away anymore. Lionel, however, denies this promise; his voice becomes almost inaudible again at this obvious lie. When his mother wants to get into the boat, he orders her to leave; nobody is allowed to get into the boat (p. 83).

Boo Boo, however, remains patient and understanding. She now appeals to Lionel's manliness and emphasizes how lonely she is without him and that she misses him very much when she is at home alone and has no one to talk to (p. 83). However, this appeal is also unsuccessful; the mother's repeated reference to the promise made then triggers an impulsive defiant reaction in Lionel : he throws the underwater goggles that belonged to his uncle Webb and previously his uncle Seymour Glass with his feet overboard. Despite her anger at Lionel's behavior, his mother retains self-control and remains calm and composed. Then she shows Lionel a key chain - " just like Daddy's " ( just like Daddy's , p. 85). Fascinated by the chain, Lionel asks his mother to throw it into the boat. However, Boo Boo calmly and deliberately realizes that if she thinks about it, she should actually throw the chain into the lake - just as Lionel threw the glasses into the lake before. When Lionel replies that she is not allowed to do that because the chain belongs to him, she only replies that she doesn't care (p. 85) and repeats exactly Lionel's own words when his uncle threw away his uncle's glasses.

By reflecting on her son in this way the injustice of his defiant behavior - he too had thrown something away that did not belong to him - instead of punishing him, she makes him much more clearly or irrefutably aware of his mistake than any punishment or allegation would have can do.

Your skillful pedagogical approach then leads to success; Lionel's eyes show how he - in accordance with his mother's expectation - begins to think hard (“ His eyes reflected pure perception, as his mother had known they would. ”, p. 85). When his mother throws him the chain, he only looks at it briefly and immediately throws it into the water. He has seen the injustice of his previous behavior and is now punishing himself. Unlike his uncle's underwater goggles, however, he now throws the chain into the water with his hand. With this gesture, deliberately and meaningfully nuanced by the author, it is so clearly emphasized that this time Lionel does not act impulsively or thoughtlessly out of a feeling of defiance or rebellion, but willingly following a thought process initiated by his mother.

After his self-punishment and the associated insight into his injustice, Lionel bursts into tears, especially since he now had to give up his previously tenaciously claimed independence. His compassionate mother can now step into the boat, hug him, and comfort him. Under this releasing and liberating protection and consolation from his mother, Lionel reveals his long-kept secret: "Sandra said to Mrs. Snell - Daddy is a big sloppy kike " (" Sandra told Mrs. Snell - that Daddy'sa big sloppy kike " , P. 86).

The tension built up in Salinger's story up to this point is thus released; the reason for Lionel's retreat or flight is this disparaging and insulting statement by Sandra towards the Jewish Tannenbaum family. Against this background, Sandra's fear of disclosure becomes just as understandable as her previously incomprehensible statement about Lionel that he has as big a nose as his father (p. 76). This utterance by Sandra is also a deliberate malice with regard to the ethnic - racial affiliation of her Jewish employer family. In addition, it becomes clear at this point why Lionel's voice was inaudible at the word "Daddy", namely as an indication that his escape is directly related to this attack by the maid on his father.

In this story, however, Salinger is less concerned with addressing the issue of anti-Semitism. The reason for Lionel's flight does not lie in the confrontation with an ethnic or racial prejudice , as the anti-Jewish meaning of the abusive word kike is not (yet) clear to him. Boo Boo, who barely noticeably flinches after Lionel's unveiling (p. 86), asks him immediately if he knows what a "kike" is. Lionel then replies that it is a thing that goes up in the air and that you hold on to a string. The boy confused the swear word “kike” with the English name for a kite (“ kite ”) and apparently only felt the hostile tone of Sandra's statement about his father. His mother lets him in his faith in order to preserve his childlike innocence . In addition, she lets him win the playful race back home to rebuild his confidence.

Sandra's denigration of the members of the Tannenbaum family is not necessarily anti-Semitic, but rather as an expression of her frustration during the long summer vacation in the remote resort. Their dissatisfaction is mainly due to their feeling of loneliness and their displeasure with life in the provinces, which is completely cut off from their familiar social environment in New York.

At the end of the short story, four-year-old Lionel in Down at the Dinghy is under the double protection of maternal love and willingness to understand on the one hand and his own childlike innocence on the other. The time indication " Indian Summer " (Eng. "Spätsommer", p. 74) at the beginning of the story, however, already symbolically indicates that the summer of Lionel's sheltered childhood will give way to the winter of a painful youth. The sheltered idyll of the secluded holiday home will give way to the chaotic, harsh reality of big city life in New York, in which the protection of parental care, similar to Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, is no longer sufficient to protect adolescents from experiencing a hostile, to shield the mean and lying outside world.

Impact history

The explicit references to Seymour Glass, the protagonist of A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and the narrator's reference that Lionel's mother was born Glass, contain clearly recognizable intertextual references to Salinger's other stories about the Glass family. Lionel defiantly throws his uncle Seymour's underwater goggles, whom little Sybil Carpenter called “See more” in A wonderful day for banana fish , into the water. As the ostrich on his shirt shows, Lionel does not want to see reality and does not want to enter the adult world, which his uncle could only escape by suicide . Lionel accordingly renounces his father's keyring; He is not yet ready to leave his childlike world of innocence and - symbolically interpreted - to open the doors to new areas of experience and experience.

Like Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye , Lionel wants everything to stay the way it was when he was a child. The hostile outside world, however, inevitably pushes its way into this refuge of childlike innocence , as in The Catcher in the Rye ; Only the special skill and the extraordinary patience as well as the cleverness of his mother, who is exemplary in every respect, can save Lionel for the time being, figuratively speaking, from falling from the steep cliff at the edge of the rye field into the abyss of the adult world.

In contrast to the protagonist Eloise Wengler in Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut , who completely neglects her daughter Ramona and treats her daughter Ramona extremely carelessly and cold-heartedly, Salinger creates with the figure of the Boo Boo Christmas tree in Down at the Dinghy the positive counter-image of a loving, caring, sensitive and warm-hearted mother who tries with all her might to protect the childlike innocence of her son.

The motif of childlike innocence and withdrawal into a protective childlike fantasy world plays a central role in Salinger's entire literary work far beyond this short story. Like Holden Caulfield's little sister Phoebe or Sybil Carpenter and Ramona Wengler, for example, Lionel also tries to maintain his childlike innocence in the refuge of an imaginary dream world.

Just as Ramona Wengler's fictional fantasy world in the icy, ugly and mean suburban environment cannot remain undisturbed or unharmed in the long term, Lionel will ultimately not be able to flee from the mendacity and superficiality of his environment. With the retreat into the desired world of fantasy, Lionel alienates himself from reality like Ramona before; In the future, Salinger's fictional world of reference will only give him the alternative, like Seymour Glass, to consistently take the escape route to an end and leave the real adult world for good, or to accept it as a given and thus to accept it.

As with Eloise Wengler in Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut , however, the only thing that will remain is the painful realization of the irretrievability of childlike innocence - just as Holden Caulfield also has to realize in the end that his dream of a “catcher in the rye” cannot be realized because every child will inevitably fall from the “crazy cliff” , thus experiencing initiation into the responsibilities and duties of the adult world. For Salinger there is no “stasis” in his fictional world , no “standstill in this world without development or ties”. Just as Seymour Glass cannot return to the child's innocence world against his better judgment or Ramona Wengler can receive support and protection from her imaginary dream friends, Lionel cannot permanently bury his head in the sand like an ostrich and face the real outside world of adults close.

Secondary literature

  • Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul Gerhard Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, pp. 242-283. Also reprinted in: Peter Freese: The American Short Story • The American Short Story. Collected Essays • Collected Essays . Langenscheidt-Longman Verlag, Munich 1999, pp. 195–232.
  • John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy . In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, pp. 225-230.

Book editions

  • JD Salinger: Down at the Dinghy . In: JD Salinger: Nine Stories New York a. a., Little, Brown and Company 1981, pp. 19-38.
  • JD Salinger: Down by the boat . In: JD Salinger: Nine stories . Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1968, ISBN 3-499-11069-5 , pp. 17–31.
  • JD Salinger: On the dinghy . In: JD Salinger: Nine stories . German by Eike Schönfeld. Kiepenheuer & Witsch Verlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-462-04382-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , pp. 173 f.
  2. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul Gerhard Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 271 ff. The text of the narrative is cited below in Nine Stories or as a German translation by Elizabeth Schnack in Rowohlt's Neun Erzählungen (1968) edition
  3. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 271. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 225 ff.
  4. ↑ See also Peter Freese : JD Salingers Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, pp. 271 and 278. As Freese ibid (p. 278) shows, Lionel also calls the attendant “Mrs. Smell " (German" smell ", also" stench "). Salinger uses Lionel's child's mouth to further characterize Mrs. Snell.
  5. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 271 f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 226, and Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , p. 174.
  6. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 272. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 226 f.
  7. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 272 ​​f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 227 f. and Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , pp. 174 f.
  8. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 273. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 227, and Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , pp. 174 f.
  9. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 274. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 227.
  10. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 275.
  11. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 274. See also Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , pp. 174 f.
  12. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 276 f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 227 f. and Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , p. 175.
  13. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 276 f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 227 f.
  14. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 277 f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 228, and Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , p. 175.
  15. ↑ See text p. 76. See also Peter Freese : JD Salingers Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 277 f. See also John V. Hagopian and Martin Dolch: Salinger, Jerome David - Down at the Dinghy 225-229. In: John V. Hagopian, Martin Dolch (Eds.): Insight I Analyzes of American Literature , Hirschgraben Verlag Frankfurt a. M. 1971, p. 228. Hagopian and Dolch also point out in detail that Sandra's denigration of the Christmas tree should be interpreted more as an expression of her dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with her social isolation during the long summer vacation than as an anti-Semitic prejudice. Mrs. Snell also defends Lionel as a "good-lookin 'kid" (p. 76).
  16. ↑ See also Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 278.
  17. ↑ See Kenneth Slawenski: JD Salinger - A Life . Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2012, ISBN 978-08129-8259-6 , p. 174
  18. ↑ See Peter Freese : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 278.
  19. ↑ See also Peter Freese on these parallels : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 279. As in Down at the Dinghy , the motif of a nocturnal wandering through Central Park can also be found in The Catcher in the Rye (cf. Chapter XX, see also Freese's note, ibid , P. 272.)
  20. ↑ See also Peter Freese on these similarities : JD Salinger's Nine Stories · An interpretation of the early Glass stories . In: Paul G. Buchloh et al. (Ed.): American stories from Hawthorne to Salinger · Interpretations. Kiel Contributions to English and American Studies Volume 6 . Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1968, p. 280 f.