02/01/19 lds local

HAYS, Kan. – A little-known love triangle with author J.D. Salinger at the apex is the focus of an article by Dr. Brett Weaver, a professor of English at Fort Hays State University.

Weaver’s thesis is that one of Salinger’s stories was a revenge piece aimed at movie legend Charlie Chaplin.

“I propose that the story was written to get back at Chaplin, who had stolen away Salinger’s true love,” said Weaver.

The article was recently accepted for publication in The Explicator, a quarterly journal of literary criticism. “Take That, Charlie Chaplin! The Meaning of Names in Salinger’s ‘Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes’” examines a short story that is considered to be an anomaly among Salinger’s stories.

“It is an anomaly because it is the only story without children, and Salinger almost always wrote about young people,” said Weaver.

Weaver’s article is one of only three ever published on this particular story. Of the other two, one took a classical literary angle and one took a psycho/social perspective. Weaver’s article focuses on the relationship between Salinger, Chaplin and Oona O’Neill, daughter of the great American playwright Eugene O’Neill.

Salinger dated Oona before being drafted into the Army during World War II. Oona was whisked off by Chaplin.

“Salinger’s life, at the time, almost perfectly paralleled Jay Gatsby from Fitzgerald’s iconic novel,” said Weaver.

“Salinger wanted to publish in The New Yorker so he could prove his literary worth to Oona and the world, just as Gatsby sought Daisy only after he had acquired great wealth that he believed would win her over,” he said.

“Of course, Salinger did then begin publishing in The New Yorker, but he lost the girl and his story was his way of getting revenge.”

To view the article, visit https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7fxzrtgE6Cqd4kITFSkC/full?target=10.1080/00144940.2018.1513905.