Farewell, JD Salinger

The death this week of JD Salinger is a sad moment for literature and for all those, like me, who read, loved and appreciated his books. The legendary American author of “The Catcher in the Rye" made a very powerful impression on me when I read his book as an adult for pleasure -Many had to read the book as part of a required book reading list in high school in America and at University in Morocco. I read and reread the “Catcher” and enjoyed it not because it features sexual innuendo and language but because the writer spoke profoundly and frankly to ordinary people. The book is a trageycomedy; hilarious and sad all the way to the end. I never got bored as I did with James Joyce’s Ulysses, for example, because the book spoke out-loud my innermost thoughts at countless occasions: Its antihero, Holden Caulfield, and I share our contempt for “phonies” and our sympathy with innocence and kids who are feeling lost, and lost to despair. We also share our concern over the ever-lasting and ever-so-unfair struggle between the good and the evil - or more exactly between the innocent and the corrupt.
Though I don’t like Holden Caulfield’s sexual encounters, his sexual insecurities, and confused immaturity being spoken out ‘publicly’, I agree with the writer’s use of slang, swearing, casual dilogs etc. Quite a few writers use such authentic teen language to speak to young readers. Let’s not forget, also, that all around us, Holden’s sexual encounters are nothing and chaste compared to what we see in the street, on TV, on the internet (and, to a lesser extent, to what many read in Mohammed Choukri’s - famous Moroccan writer - ‘For Bread Alone’.)
Here is an excerpt I have always loved because it not only makes one laugh but makes one think as well as is the case with George Carlin's black humor:
Anyway, he [Ossenburger] gave Pencey a pile of dough, and they named our wing after him. The first football game of the year, he came up to school in this big goddam Cadillac, and we all had to stand up in the grandstand and give him a locomotive – that's a cheer. Then, the next morning, in chapel, he made a speech that lasted about ten hours. He started off with about fifty corny jokes, just to show us what a regular guy he was. Very big deal. Then he started telling us how he was never ashamed, when he was in some kind of trouble or something, to get right down on his knees and pray to God. He told us we should always pray to God – talk to Him and all – wherever we were. He told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs.
The only good part of his speech was right in the middle of it. He was telling us all about what a swell guy he was, what a hot-shot and all, then all of a sudden this guy sitting in the row in front of me, Edgar Marsalla, laid this terrific fart. It was a very crude thing to do, in chapel and all, but it was also quite amusing. Old Marsalla. He damn near blew the roof off. Hardly anybody laughed out loud, and old Ossenburger made out like he didn't even hear it, but old Thurmer, the headmaster, was sitting right next to him on the rostrum and all, and you could tell he heard it. Boy, was he sore.
He didn't say anything then, but the next night he made us have compulsory study hall in the academic building and he came up and made a speech. He said that the boy that had created the disturbance in chapel wasn't fit to go to Pencey. We tried to get old Marsalla to rip off another one, right while old Thurmer was making his speech, but he wasn't in the right mood. Anyway, that's where I lived at Pencey. Old Ossenburger Memorial Wing, in the new dorms.” (The Catcher in the Rye: Chapter 3.)
The book is a treasure trove of thoughts and attitudes. You will be sorely missed, JD Salinger, but you will always be remembered as an American icon who abhorred fame and celebrity. .

Super America

What makes the US a powerful and a successful country? Some people would argue that America had many opportunities and it ceased them and benefited from them such as WW II when it produced and sold weapons and geared its industry to build most of the destroyed parts of Europe and then made a huge amount of money out of that. This argument is definitely true to a point. However, the American character also has played a role.

First, American success is built on lot of hard work by a lot of different people. These people are crazy about work and work to make money and build success. Many people here have more than one job. I was talking to the maid in this campus this morning and she told me that she’s got another job and that her daughter has got two, too. There is usually more than one worker in the same household, as in the case of this lady. This lady likes her two jobs, takes them seriously and does them efficiently. So do most Americans. Also, Americans bear with their jobs, at least, if they don’t like them and do them well and perfectly. I have noticed their work ethic includes: responsibility, reliability, accountability, and honesty. Even the American dream of success, fame and wealth is based on hard work and thrift. American system of education, as well, is a school-to-work program. Kids go to school to be prepared for a job, for a future, for the “Almighty Greenback”. For them, you’re never too old or too young to work. I’ve seen people as old as my granddad work and kids as young as my daughter make money by the sweat of their brow. I liked the fifteen year old boy on the 19Actionnews TV channel this morning who ceased the opportunity of class cancellation to clear the snow outside houses to make money “to buy shoes and clothes” as he said. It’s all work and little play that makes America a super country.

Secondly, linked to hard-work is time, and “time is money.” Americans value time and have great respect for it. It surprises us to see them eat on their way to work, while driving, on the bus… They eat while working and work while eating. Students bring food and drinks to the classroom because they have no time to waste - but they have freedom. They eat on the go because work and business are before pleasure. They “don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today” because they believe in continuous productivity and perpetual activity. They are very conscious of time and view punctuality as extremely important especially in business settings because they usually have other fish to fry. For them, good time is always used or saved, but not wasted or killed.

Thirdly, Americans are pragmatic, practical, and realistic people who rely on a common sense approach to life. They put ideas philosophies, and theories into action and use and they would try every trick in the book to make them work. Even the American 'dream' is not a sleep dream with all the thoughts and images and emotions. It is all about success, hard-work, and wealth. Their pragmatism changed the face of this country in record time and changed the face of the Earth as well. America is a success and achievement-oriented country whose citizens are always putting ideas into action and whose actions, today, speak louder than words. They are not only pragmatic but also persevering and “ready to fight fifty years to win” as Benjamin Franklin said, so as to get to the end-goal.

Fourthly, Americans are very informal, casual, and hate protocol and titles. Even those with PH Ds here in Kent State University urge their students to call them by their first names and so do bosses with their employees. Yet, it’s their dress informality that I favor best because I have always believed in the saying that, “l’habit ne fait pas le moine.” This means that clothes are deceiving or something like "you can't judge a book by its cover". I have noticed that Americans look you in the eyes when they talk to you and do not look at your washed jeans, or casual baggy trousers, or open-necked shirt. Nice external appearances mean nothing if a person’s head is just an empty can. Casual clothes help people work more comfortably and help others feel comfortable to approach you. Informality is also linked to to the value of equality which is the foundation of American democracy and stressed by the American Declaration of independence that “all men are created equal.” Needless to say, as well, that prejudice and discrimination often arise from difference in appearance, and clothes are part of the appearance. Linked with informality, also, is the value of freedom; freedom to choose your way of life, your clothes, your hairstyle…There is no strict dress code and everyone is free to choose their attire.

Last but not least, Americans are positively patriotic. I say positively because they show their patriotism spontaneously without being forced to do so. This is one of the benefits of a democracy. I have seen the Stars and Stripes wave above individual houses, patriotic neon flags in workplaces, patriotic pins prominently displayed people’s clothes and bags, patriotic stickers on people's cars that read "Proud to be American" or "God Bless America" etc…But Americans rarely brag about their country when they talk to you; they prefer to show their patriotism by working hard for it.

There is, of course, always an exception to the general truth because there are always people there who do not realize how fortunate they are to be born as Americans. However, as Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure. .”