Revisiting "Hapworth": The Catharsis of Buddy Glass

J.D. Salinger's "Hapworth 16, 1924," his last published work, is notorious for the initial critical silence it received, as well as the subsequent general consensus that it was a text to revile if not avoid. This thesis proposes that while "Hapworth" is a difficult and perplexing piece, there is a good deal about it that deserves if not outright praise, then a close critical re-examination. Assuming the "author" of the story is not the seven-year-old version of "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" suicide Seymour Glass, as the story purports, but his grieving younger brother Buddy, who has spent the years since his brother's death trying to come to terms with it. "Hapworth" is Buddy's final--and perhaps finally successful--attempt to do so.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• McTague, Brian

Contributors dc:contributor

• A. Bryant Mangum

• 20th Century American Literature
• J.D. Salinger
• "Hapworth 16
• 1924"
• Arts and Humanities
• English Language and Literature

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/287

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1286