Hinduism

y the 1960s, amid the growing independence of teenagers and their search for meaning in their lives, Salinger's story of 16-year-old Holden Caufield and his Christmas season jaunt in 1940s Manhattan seemed even more relevant than it had been in 1951. Sales grew rapidly as teenagers began reading the novel not only to satisfy class requirements (the book proved ideal for teachers seeking to connect their students with literature), but also as a source of answers, guidance, and inspiration in their own lives. Amid the war in Vietnam and a burgeoning counter-culture, even adults who found themselves perplexed by the younger generation began referring to the novel in new and immediate terms. This made Salinger a vastly popular and influential literary presence in a decade in which he published very little new work. Indeed, his output had slowed down considerably by the '60s, and he became known principally through his works of the 1940s and '50s, particularly The Catcher in the Rye and the anthologies that had been assembled of his shorter works, such as Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey. The man, himself, however, was (and remained) a mystery, which, apparently, is how he had always wanted it. Even when his stories began appearing in print in the early '40s, Salinger did not allow his editors to include any information about him, ostensibly because he didn't want any personal details to distract the reader from the writing. By all accounts, the author's desire for privacy only increased in the decades to follow. Salinger pursued several legal avenues to preserve it, and specifically tried to prevent the publication of letters that he had written to others. The demand for his work was such that, in 1974, an enterprising pirate had published two volumes of The Uncollected Short Stories of J.D. Salinger, made up of several short works (principally from the early '40s) that the author had chosen not to include in his official anthologies. Both volumes were quickly suppressed by legal action, but, as late as 1988, they could still be found (albeit with difficulty) on the collector's market, costing several hundred dollars each and handled under the strictest security.

Foremost among these challenges is that Salinger's experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder somehow means that he is a psychologically scarred individual who cannot deal with the traumatic nature of his war service. Ms. Salinger paints a picture of J. D. as a man immensely proud of his service record, maintaining his military haircut, service jacket, and moving about his compound (and town) in an old Jeep. Ms. Salinger offered many insights into the Salinger myths, including her father's supposed long-time interest in macrobiotics and involvement with what is today known as "alternative medicine" and Eastern philosophies.

Salinger had been a follower of Zen Buddhism, and had met the scholar D. T. Suzuki. Then he became a life-long student of Advaita Vedanta Hinduism

The Jesus Prayer: The crux of Franny and Zooey is the Jesus Prayer Franny takes from the religious "Pilgrim" books. By incessantly praying to Jesus, the person who prays is endowed with "Christ-Consciousness," in Zooey's words, and can see God, in Franny's words. What Franny realizes only at the end of the novel, thanks to Zooey's wisdom, is that not only does one unite with Jesus through the prayer, but through all humanity, since everyone carries Christ within him or herself. The Jesus Prayer has more to do with love than with religion, as incessant praying spans several religions.

The Fat Lady: The point of the Jesus Prayer, that all humans deserve love and respect if only for their very humanity, is embodied in the persona of the "Fat Lady," Seymour's name for the (what Franny and Zooey perceive to be) uneducated, unattractive fans of "It's a Wise Child." Ultimately, we can see the Fat Lady symbolized as Bessie - Zooey even calls her "fat" several times - who is far below her children in terms of intelligence, but still deserves their respect and love. Respect was Franny's original deficit - she told Lane she was sick of liking people and wished "to God I could meet somebody I could respect." By literally doing this - praying to Jesus - she learns respect for those she has already met. We may assume that Zooey, who has a far more hostile relationship with Bessie, will come to this conclusion, as well.

Zen and the Art of No-Knowledge: The novel is peppered with Zen Buddhist ideas, largely centering around the concept of "no-knowledge." The Buddhist must clear his head of preconceived ideas in order to attain wisdom. This process counters Western education, which crams its students with knowledge - Franny complains that the poets at her school don't leave anything beautiful on the page, but only get into your head. She is upset at herself, as well, for trying to hoard wisdom through the Jesus Prayer as others hoard knowledge. True "no-knowledge," by its very absence, cannot be hoarded.

Ego, Detachment, and Destruction: The path to Buddhist "no-knowledge" is detachment, the letting go of one's personal ego and selfish concerns to attain enlightened beauty. Why does Franny rail against the section men and her professors? They are competitively absorbed in their own egos, and whatever detachment they have is detachment from humanity. As such, they lead insecure lives of critical destruction - the section men ruin literature for others, Lane is interested only in his critical paper on Flaubert. Buddhist detachment rids oneself of the negativity of ego and frees up the positive part of the ego: Zooey tells Franny she must act, as that is her God-given talent, and use her ego as best she can (much

...