Reaffirmation Of The Human Spirit In 'For Esmé'
British moral philosopher, Bernard Williams once said, “Man never made a material as resilient as the human spirit” (Williams). Here Williams tells of the insurmountable human spirit. Through all hardships the will to live prevails, rising above the forces of evil. In the anthology Nine Stories each character has to overcome and cope with evil. From absentee parents, to coping with the effects of war, many of the characters are able to rise above their struggle and continue living with hope. The reaffirmation of the human spirit is highlighted as characters are inspired to move on and regain a sense of normalcy in their lives. Eloise, Ramona, Sergeant X, and Jean DeDaumier, all face evil through war, isolation, death and disappointment; however,
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After Sergeant X leaves England he suffers from the atrocities of the war. He cannot seem to cope with the damage and deaths his unit caused. He suffers mental duress from this, even ending up at an army hospital. Sergeant X’s poor mental state manifests into him losing weight. When Clay sees him at the hospital in Frankfurt he says, “I goddam near fainted when I saw you at the hospital. You looked like a goddam corpse.” (Salinger 163). After all the eviland mallace Sergeant X witnessed during combat he almost lost the spirit to live. The evil was almost able to overcome him and take away his life. However, through the rekindling of his human spirit through writing, Sergeant X manages to “[stand] a chance of again becoming a man…with all his f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s in tact” (Salinger 173). Here “faculties” refers to his mental state or health. While at the hospital Sergeant X often goes back and reads “Die Zeit Ohne Beispel”. This is the book he took from the female Nazi officer he arrested. Sergeant X uses this book as a source of comfort, and way of justifying his service in the war. It reminds him of the Nazi atrocities. Although he contributed to the violence of the war he realizes he managed to prevent more in the future. Sergeant X’s infatuation with the book can be shown through the fact that, “For the third time since he returned from …show more content…
After seeing the work of the Nun, Jean becomes excited that her work is all his own to critique. Just before this, he describes his students as “very retarded and chiefly stupid” (Salinger 234). He is discouraged to teach and feels his efforts may be futile. Regarding Irma’s art he says it is “steeped in high, high, organized talent” (Salinger 229). Jean is amazed by her drawings and the level of craftsmanship they entail. After seeing the nun’s portfolio Jean “Then, with far more tolerance than [he’d] though [he] had in [himself]… spent the rest of the afternoon doing overlay corrections of some… nudes that R. Howard Ridgefield had… obscenely drawn” (Salinger 230). Although he previously would have been discouraged by these paintings he manages to correct them with patience. After staring at the “Mother Superior’s Letter” (Salinger 243), and realizing that the nun had to resign from the school, Jean loses all hope in the other students. Following this he “wrote letters to [his] four remaining students, advising them to give up the idea of becoming artists” (Salinger 243). After losing the artwork of the nun, he loses the spirit to help his other students. Without the sister he would have let the other students go a long time ago, but the sister’s art allowed him to teach talentless students. The sister’s art reassured him and
After Sergeant X leaves England he suffers from the atrocities of the war. He cannot seem to cope with the damage and deaths his unit caused. He suffers mental duress from this, even ending up at an army hospital. Sergeant X’s poor mental state manifests into him losing weight. When Clay sees him at the hospital in Frankfurt he says, “I goddam near fainted when I saw you at the hospital. You looked like a goddam corpse.” (Salinger 163). After all the eviland mallace Sergeant X witnessed during combat he almost lost the spirit to live. The evil was almost able to overcome him and take away his life. However, through the rekindling of his human spirit through writing, Sergeant X manages to “[stand] a chance of again becoming a man…with all his f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s in tact” (Salinger 173). Here “faculties” refers to his mental state or health. While at the hospital Sergeant X often goes back and reads “Die Zeit Ohne Beispel”. This is the book he took from the female Nazi officer he arrested. Sergeant X uses this book as a source of comfort, and way of justifying his service in the war. It reminds him of the Nazi atrocities. Although he contributed to the violence of the war he realizes he managed to prevent more in the future. Sergeant X’s infatuation with the book can be shown through the fact that, “For the third time since he returned from …show more content…
After seeing the work of the Nun, Jean becomes excited that her work is all his own to critique. Just before this, he describes his students as “very retarded and chiefly stupid” (Salinger 234). He is discouraged to teach and feels his efforts may be futile. Regarding Irma’s art he says it is “steeped in high, high, organized talent” (Salinger 229). Jean is amazed by her drawings and the level of craftsmanship they entail. After seeing the nun’s portfolio Jean “Then, with far more tolerance than [he’d] though [he] had in [himself]… spent the rest of the afternoon doing overlay corrections of some… nudes that R. Howard Ridgefield had… obscenely drawn” (Salinger 230). Although he previously would have been discouraged by these paintings he manages to correct them with patience. After staring at the “Mother Superior’s Letter” (Salinger 243), and realizing that the nun had to resign from the school, Jean loses all hope in the other students. Following this he “wrote letters to [his] four remaining students, advising them to give up the idea of becoming artists” (Salinger 243). After losing the artwork of the nun, he loses the spirit to help his other students. Without the sister he would have let the other students go a long time ago, but the sister’s art allowed him to teach talentless students. The sister’s art reassured him and