Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger. Cycle 17 Reading Response, Pages 3-43

I read the part of the book entitled Franny this cycle. Franny arrives in the town where her boyfriend, Lane, is attending college. From the moment she gets off the train, there is an underlying tension and uneasy feeling between them. They go to eat at Sickler's, a restaurant that the more intellectual college students frequent. Lane notices that Franny isn't herself. Their conversation is uncomfortable and full of disagreements. Franny gets up to use the bathroom, but faints before she gets there. Lane and the bartender carry her to a hospital, where she regains consciousness.

commodious: "...appeared to be hardly less commodious." (p. 21) adj, roomy and comfortable
cavilling: "It sounded to her cavilling and bitchy..." (p. 24) adj, made petty or unnecessary objections
nymphomaniac: "...that he's a bastard or a nymphomaniac or takes dope all the time, or something horrible." (p. 25) noun, one possessing uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire
starets: "Then he meets this person called a starets..." (p. 33) noun, highly advanced religious person

Like the other work of J.D. Salinger that I have read, The Catcher in the Rye, I liked this piece. Time changes people. Distance and separation changes people. When Franny and Lane finally see each other, they realize that both have acted upon their relationship. The story starts with Lane waiting at the Train Station, with one of the manifestations of his relationship with Franny, a letter. This letter is described in this sentence. "It had a handled, unfresh look, as if it had been taken out of its envelope and read several times before." (p. 4) Days since it has arrived, he has already taken it out and studied it. He reads imagining Franny sitting at her typewriter in her noisy dorm, the keys clacking as she types out their little correspondence. She thanks him for the letter that he wrote to her, the one that she just received. There are little mistakes, but they just remind Lane of Franny. Now he sees that she's a little flustered, that the dorm setting. But he keeps reading, and he sees that, even in this distracting environment, she sits down and types what she thinks. I think that correspondence is one part of their relationship. The writer gets to write whatever he or she wants, and the reader gets to read whatever he or she wants. This alley of communication allows Lane and Franny to fill in gaps. They can think whatever they want. They have words staring them in the face, not another person with feelings, emotions, and the capability to act. They can paint their own picture of what the relationship is, but it may not be a realistic one.
This is shown when they see each other. No more words written on paper, but words spoken in person. Now they have to face the facts, and face each other. Their relationship is not beyond repair, but there are cracks starting to show through. Franny's visit starts with tension. She's carrying a green book. Lane asks about it, but she doesn't answer. She dodges the question. If I were  Lane, this would definitely bother me. From the fully disclosing tone of the  letter and the way they think of each other, it seems that this is a very open relationship where they feel that they can tell each other anything. This is not the case any more. Franny is hiding something from Lane, and this sort of bothers him. What she is actually hiding may not be important at all, but the fact that she is hiding something bothers him. They find problems with each other as they talk and have dinner. With their open relationship, they don't hold too much back. Lane's food comes and Franny gets another cigarette out of her pack. "She had just brought her cigarette to her lips, but it had gone out. 'What'd you do with the matches?' she asked. Lane gave her a light when the waiter had gone. 'You smoke too much,' he said." (p. 26-17) He still lit her cigarette, even though he thinks that she should change. He cares about her enough to tell her that she should stop doing something, not not enough to stop her from doing it. This puts both of them at unease. Franny feels criticized and Lane feels worried and helpless. None of these are feelings that Franny and Lane should be feeling when they see each other. Franny has been going through difficult things. In her letter, she tells Lane about her dad's sickness. Her dad's health worries her and makes her feel ill as well. 
During their dinner, they talk about what Franny has been doing. Through the dinner, Franny doesn't feel to well. "She felt a faint wave of nausea, and looked up immediately and dragged on her cigarette." (p. 27) This culminates with her fainting. "She put her right hand on the bar, then lowered her head - bowed it - and put her left hand to her forehead, just touching it with the fingertips. She weaved a trifle, then fainted, collapsing to the floor." (p. 40-41) The story picks up again with Franny regaining consciousness five minutes after fainting and finding herself on a couch. As it turns out, the bartender and Lane carried her. She looks up to see Lane. "His face, suspended anxiously over hers, had a remarkable pallor of its own now." (p. 41) This is the third level of their relationship. They both care about each other, even after they have been arguing and not exactly getting along. Lane was probably more worried than anyone else was. He carried her, even after arguing with her about all the things they talked about during their dinner. Franny asks for a glass of water, but Lane goes above and beyond and also arranges a way for her to safely get back to where she's staying. He leaves her to help her, but his leaving leaves her alone and slightly scared. 
The relationship between Franny and Lane is imperfect, but it is a good, loving one. Their letters help them keep in contact when they are not with each other, but do not answer all of their questions. When they are together, they don't always get along. At the core of the relationship, under the arguments and letters, lies deep caring and concern for each other. Franny and Lane have a relationship that I think will last a long time. I guess I'll have to read the rest of the book to find out for sure. 

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