After our discussion of "Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes," I realized there was a lot Salinger left open to interpretation. He relies almost entirely on dialogue to give us insights on the characters so we're left to fill in ambiguities like how close Lee and Arthur are or what exactly Joanie and Lee are doing. Here's my analysis of Lee and Joanie's relationship.
The general consensus in class seemed to be that they were having an affair. Someone suggested that Joanie could be with Lee just to escape from Arthur's drunkenness but from the opening scene we know that she and Lee are in some sort of intimate position. That combined with Lee lying to Arthur about Joanie's whereabouts makes it pretty obvious they're sleeping together and not just hanging out.
One of the big unknowns is the extent of their affair. It's hard to tell if it's deeper than just sex since Salinger includes very little interaction between them. We essentially only see them smoking cigarettes and sharing feelings of relief after successfully deceiving Lee. The only evidence that suggests that they're emotionally attached to each other is when Joanie calls Lee "darling." It's just one word yet it's a term of endearment which I think would be weird to use in a strictly sexual relationship. Still, it's not enough of an indicator that their relationship is more than a casual affair.
As for guessing how long it's been going on, there again isn't much to go off of. Arthur's depiction of Joanie as a lustful "animal" suggests that she has a history of infidelities so it wouldn't be a reach to say her affair with Lee has been going on for a while. However, his characterization of his wife is given through a series of alcohol-induced rants so it wouldn't be fair to judge Joanie solely off of Arthur's words. Salinger doesn't include Joanie's perspective so we really don't know if Arthur is just overly paranoid in his drunken state or if Joanie really is all he makes her up to be. Lee calmly handling Arthur while Joanie stays silent seems like a routine for them so it's safe to assume it's not their first time together.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that Lee and Joanie's relationship is far from black and white.
One of the big unknowns is the extent of their affair. It's hard to tell if it's deeper than just sex since Salinger includes very little interaction between them. We essentially only see them smoking cigarettes and sharing feelings of relief after successfully deceiving Lee. The only evidence that suggests that they're emotionally attached to each other is when Joanie calls Lee "darling." It's just one word yet it's a term of endearment which I think would be weird to use in a strictly sexual relationship. Still, it's not enough of an indicator that their relationship is more than a casual affair.
As for guessing how long it's been going on, there again isn't much to go off of. Arthur's depiction of Joanie as a lustful "animal" suggests that she has a history of infidelities so it wouldn't be a reach to say her affair with Lee has been going on for a while. However, his characterization of his wife is given through a series of alcohol-induced rants so it wouldn't be fair to judge Joanie solely off of Arthur's words. Salinger doesn't include Joanie's perspective so we really don't know if Arthur is just overly paranoid in his drunken state or if Joanie really is all he makes her up to be. Lee calmly handling Arthur while Joanie stays silent seems like a routine for them so it's safe to assume it's not their first time together.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that Lee and Joanie's relationship is far from black and white.
Yea, I agree with you on this one Joon - in fact, I was going to write about this in my blog post. At the beginning of the class discussion, I was a supporter that Joanie wasn't having any sort of affair with Lee. In fact, for most of the period I defended that point of view, trying to find a counter argument to everything; for the argument about their relief once they convinced Arthur that Lee doesn't know of Joanie's whereabouts, I argued in my head that they just didn't want him to think that Lee and Joanie were having an affair. When someone said that they were listening to what Arthur is saying, and Joanie was abnormally close to Lee, I argued that she just wanted to hear what Arthur was saying about her in the phone. I was able to think up an excuse for all of these arguments (or just blow them off somehow) except for one, and that is why Joanie told Lee, "God, I feel like an absolute dog!" (I forgot who said this, maybe Mr. Mitchell or Elissa? Or maybe was it Siena or Beth I don't even know...). I just couldn't get around it; there was no other reason why Joanie would call herself a dog unless she has been sleeping with other people... I tried to dismiss it as something that she just says when her husband gets mad but it didn't really fit the bill for me... and that's how I "defected" the "innocent faction" and became a part of the "slept-with-Lee Faction", which incidentally was the majority of the class. Now that you brought up the question of how long were they together, I guess I'll be thinking about that for some time before I write my blog post... hmm...
ReplyDeleteThe entire story was interesting to discuss for me because I didn't realize what was happening really. I had fully believed that Joanie had come home when Arthur said so, and I was completely taken aback when an almost immediate consensus came up otherwise. To the analysis of the story, your final point that this is a common occurrence due to Lee's smooth handling is intriguing, although I did get the impression that he's a guy with the social skills to deal with any situation. Black and white relationships seem very rare in literature we read as well.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, I do think this may be more than just a sexual relationship, as she does call him "darling" and they can exchange looks and understand what they are thinking. It also seems to me that Joanie is comfortable in Lee's presence and with his dealings with Arthur, which may also indicate this is more than just a sexual affair.
ReplyDeleteThe class discussion actually opened a lot for me. When I was initially reading I thought that Joanie was for sure having a relationship with Lee however, the surprise ending with Joanie supposedly returning home made me question that. The relationship does seem familiar as their interaction while smoking makes it seems so. As Beth pointed out it does seem more than simply a sexual relationship as the term "darling" is used. This would suggests more of a personal connection.
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