“Teddy” is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1953, issue of The New Yorker and reprinted in Salinger’s 1953 collection, Nine Stories. The main character is Teddy McArdle, a ten-year-old child genius, who is returning home from England with his father, mother, and little sister. The story centers around Teddy’s conversations about religion and philosophy with a young grad student, Nicholson, on board the ship. The story is about the nature of existence and how cause and effect can lead to (sometimes) surprising conclusions.
Teddy seems to have Vedantic insight about the nature of the universe. Salinger's explanation of the relationship between space and time closely reflect the Vedanta Karma Theory. Teddy is the Jatismara, or the person who can remember details about his previous lives. Teddy reveals that in his previous life he was a man in India who was "making very nice spiritual advancement", but stopped praying after meeting a woman.
Teddy and the student discuss all kinds of things that surprise Nicholson at the extent of Teddy’s knowledge. Just before parting, Teddy discusses the fragile nature of life, ending with a theoretical way he could die within the next few minutes by being pushed into the empty pool by his little sister. Nicholson tries to take in all of this as Teddy leaves to go to his swimming lesson. Nicholson decides to follow Teddy to the pool, located below, but when he is “a little more than halfway down the staircase,” Nicholson hears “an all-piercing, sustained scream--clearly coming from a small, female child.” This is how the story ends, which has disturbed readers since the moment it was published.
Largely due to its ending, the story was “one of the most controversial stories Salinger ever published,” and in its review of Nine Stories, Harper’s magazine singled “Teddy” out, saying it “staggered its readers when it came out in the New Yorker, and is absolutely unforgettable.”
Teddy seems to have Vedantic insight about the nature of the universe. Salinger's explanation of the relationship between space and time closely reflect the Vedanta Karma Theory. Teddy is the Jatismara, or the person who can remember details about his previous lives. Teddy reveals that in his previous life he was a man in India who was "making very nice spiritual advancement", but stopped praying after meeting a woman.
Teddy and the student discuss all kinds of things that surprise Nicholson at the extent of Teddy’s knowledge. Just before parting, Teddy discusses the fragile nature of life, ending with a theoretical way he could die within the next few minutes by being pushed into the empty pool by his little sister. Nicholson tries to take in all of this as Teddy leaves to go to his swimming lesson. Nicholson decides to follow Teddy to the pool, located below, but when he is “a little more than halfway down the staircase,” Nicholson hears “an all-piercing, sustained scream--clearly coming from a small, female child.” This is how the story ends, which has disturbed readers since the moment it was published.
Largely due to its ending, the story was “one of the most controversial stories Salinger ever published,” and in its review of Nine Stories, Harper’s magazine singled “Teddy” out, saying it “staggered its readers when it came out in the New Yorker, and is absolutely unforgettable.”
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