Teddy

“It’s interesting that I know about them being there. If I hadn’t seen them, then I wouldn’t know they were there, and if I didn’t know they were there, I wouldn’t be able to say they exist.”

This quote characterizes young Teddy as wise beyond his years, later confirmed by his comments about being a reincarnated man. Here, Teddy also raises philosophical questions that build tension and reflect Postmodernism’s embrace of ambiguity and multiple interpretations (See: Background).

“‘After I go out this door, I may only exist in the minds of all my acquaintances,’ he said. ‘I may be an orange peel.’”

Teddy mutters this quote as he is about to leave his parents’ cabin to find Booper. While this line most obviously builds on the theme of The Search for Spiritual Enlightenment, the symbolism of him as an orange peel also foreshadows the short story’s ambiguous ending—like the peels, Teddy may disconnect from his body through death.

“He took steps two at a time, but slowly, holding onto the banister, putting his whole body into it, as if the act of climbing a flight of stairs was for him, as it is for many children, a moderately pleasurable end in itself.”

Teddy’s childlike tendencies juxtapose with his adult intellectualism, as demonstrated by his earlier observation of orange peels. His ascent mirrors Bob Nicholson’s later descent, which creates structural symmetry and prioritizes the pleasure of one’s journey—an ironic sentiment considering Teddy likely dies of his own volition.

“I’ll meet you right at the pool at ten-thirty. Or right outside that place where you change your clothes. Be on time, now. It’s way down on E Deck, don’t forget, so leave yourself plenty of time.”

In this quote, Teddy instructs Booper to honor their swimming lesson. As he converses with Nicholson, Teddy’s preoccupation with time builds tension and foreshadows his participation in his own fate. Encouraging Booper to meet him at the pool ensures that the circumstances of the death scenario that he describes to Nicholson will occur as predicted.

“His youngness and single-mindedness were obvious enough, but perhaps his general demeanor altogether lacked, or had too little of, that sort of cute solemnity that many adults readily speak up, or down, to.”

This characterization of Teddy contributes to the theme of The Loss of Innocence. It reinforces him as a child in body and adult in mind, informed by either genius or past memories.

“It will either happen today or February 14, 1955 when I am sixteen. It is ridiculous to mention even.”

Teddy writes an ambiguous journal entry, characteristic of Postmodernism. Although this entry is open to interpretation, Salinger provides clues to better understand Teddy’s predictions regarding himself and the Leidekker Examining Group who studied him. Although the clues are mostly revealed through dialogue, it is implied from the journal entry that Teddy possesses the gift of foresight, which perfectly sets up the reader to question the difference between Teddy’s self-predicted death and the implied death at the end of the story.

“‘Nothing in the voice of the cicada intimates how soon it will die,’” Teddy said suddenly. “‘Along this road goes no one, this autumn eve.’”

In a story filled with direct dialogue, these two lines of poetry stand out for their lyrical style. Teddy demonstrates stark self-awareness, admitting that he likes these lines of poetry because they lack “emotional stuff” and showing that he views Death From an Unsentimental Place. Here, Teddy reveals that he sees himself as a brief, noisy form of life who knows his fate.

“From what I gather, you made some little predictions that disturbed the boys no end.” 

Throughout their conversation, Nicholson refers to Teddy in the diminutive to emphasize their gap in age and size. In this quote, he further asserts academic authority by questioning Teddy’s predictions for his colleagues in the Leidekker Examining Group.

“My mother and father don’t think a person’s human unless he thinks a lot of things are very sad or very annoying or very—very unjust, sort of. My father gets very emotional even when he reads the newspaper. He thinks I’m inhuman.”

This indirect characterization of Teddy through his parents—especially his father—complicates Teddy’s treatment of logic, as he doesn’t care for it or sentimentality. Likewise, the framing of Mr. McArdle as emotional complicates his desire to exude traditional masculinity—which is often tied to anger alone. Overall, this specific comparison of Teddy to his parents is one of the story’s main points of showing Death From an Unsentimental Place.

“It’s very hard to meditate and live a spiritual life in America. […] My father thinks I’m a freak […] [a]nd my mother […] thinks it’s bad for my health.”

After falling from grace in his previous life as a spiritual Indian man, Teddy has reincarnated as an American man. To him, this new identity is a punishment, as it hinders The Search for Spiritual Enlightenment. America is largely defined by materialism and this cultivates a system of bias toward his spiritual practices that is highlighted by his parents’ reactions to his attempts at meditation.

“‘It’s so silly,’ he said. ‘All you do is get the heck out of your body when you die. My gosh, everybody’s done it thousands and thousands of times. Just because they don’t remember it doesn’t mean they haven’t done it.’”

Teddy’s detached view of death furthers the theme of Death From an Unsentimental Perspective. Believing himself reincarnated, Teddy applies this logic to others’ shortcomings—their lapses in knowledge from previous lives.

“This might be the day they change the water or something. What might happen, though, I might walk up to the edge of it, just to have a look at the bottom, for instance, and my sister might come up and sort of push me in. I could fracture my skull and die instantaneously.”

This speculation is detailed enough to create a strong image. Readers can apply this image to Teddy’s actions before and after his conversation with Nicholson, as well as what they know of Booper. Although the story’s ending is ambiguous, Nicholson hears a scream from the pool area in the closing scene, and it is easy for both reader (and character) to remember this description and assume Teddy has predicted his own death.

“I’d just make them vomit up every bit of the apple their parents and everybody made them take a bite of.”

This quote demonstrates Salinger’s use of dialogue as characterization and dark humor. The quote’s allusion to Christianity—specifically, the biblical Adam and Eve’s consumption of forbidden fruit (often depicted as apples)—reinforces Teddy’s dislike of intrusive logic (as the forbidden fruit grants knowledge). Instead, Teddy prefers The Search for Spiritual Enlightenment to come through meditation and self-discovery, rather than relying on outside influences to dictate how people see the world.