Elaine (short story)
| "Elaine" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by J. D. Salinger | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Story |
| Publication date | March-April, 1945 |
“Elaine” is an uncollected work of short fiction by J. D. Salinger which appeared in the March-April, 1945 issue of Story .[1]
Plot
The sixteen-year-old Elaine lives with her mother and grandmother in the Bronx. She is a beautiful young girl unaware of the miasma of the city around her. One reason for this is that she is intellectually years behind her peers, graduating from eighth grade at 16 after being "tested" at age 7 and forced to stay back two grades. Salinger writes that she is one of only two students wearing lipstick at the graduation ceremony.
Elaine and her mother spend the bulk of their time together watching movies at the local cinema—this seems to be the world both of them escape to. They find a "fourth-rate picture exceptionally engrossing" while watching it with the super of their building. At this point in the story Elaine is introduced to sexuality when Mr. Freelander, their landlord, touches her leg during the movie. She does not recognize this as an inappropriate gesture and doesn't tell her mother about it.
Later, she meets an usher at the theater, who asks her out on a date. She looks stunning as he picks her up with his friends and they go to the beach. Throughout the story Elaine is unable to pick up on social cues and participate in conversations, suggesting she has a learning disability of some kind. Elaine ends up under the boardwalk where she has sex with her date.
Elaine arranges to marry this boy, Teddy Schmidt, a month later. During the ceremony her mother challenges Teddy, calling him a "sissy" and refuses to let her daughter take part in the wedding. Elaine's mother and grandmother walk across the room and take Elaine back with them as Teddy stands by helpless. Outside the three of them walk towards the theater, to see a Henry Fonda movie.[2][3]
Background
In late 1943, when Salinger was preparing to depart with the 12th Infantry Regiment for combat duty in Europe, he was informed that three of his works of short fiction had been accepted by The Saturday Evening Post for publication. Buoyed by the news, he sent his manuscript for “Elaine” to The New Yorker confident that the work would be welcomed. He included a caveat that the story be presented intact without any alterations whatsoever.[4] Fiction edition Wolcott Gibbs and chief editor William Keepers Maxwell Jr. interpreted these conditions as a flagrant ultimatum: the submission was instantly rejected. Maxwell informed Salinger’s agent Dorothy Olding that the story “just doesn’t seem quite right for us”.[5]
While Salinger was overseas, Story magazine accepted “Elaine” for publication “at the usual fee of $25.”[6] The story appeared in the March-April edition of Story in 1945.[7]
Footnotes
- ^ Wenke, 1991 p. 167: Selected Bibliography
- ^ Wenke, 1991 p. 8-9: Plot summary
- ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 67-68
- ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 78: Slawenski reports that Salinger insisted that “not a single word was to be altered, edited or removed.”
- ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 78
- ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 96
- ^ Slawenski, 2010 p. 126
Sources
- Slawenski, Kenneth. 2010. J. D. Salinger: A Life. Random House, New York. ISBN 978-1-4000-6951-4
- Wenke, John. 1991. J. D. Salinger: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twaynes Studies in Short Fiction, Gordon Weaver, General Editor. Twayne Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-8057-8334-2
