All You Need is Love
Holden Gentilini
Professor Xavier Rauscher
English 104
2 October 2013
All You Need is Love In the short story “For Esme With Love and Squalor”, J.D. Salinger tells of an American soldier in England during 1944. He explains how this solider meets a young girl, Esme, that makes a profound effect on his life. By the end of the story, the reader can see the effects the war can have on an individual, and how important Esme really is. In this salinger story, the love of a young girl saves a man from a life of squalor. From the beginning of the story, one can already see how squalor can surround this soldier’s life. He is described to be walking in the rain and lighting, not regarding the lightning strikes at all. On his walk he noticed the Red Cross recreation room, which was crowed with soldiers drinking coffee and playing ping pong. Instead of going inside, he crossed the street to an empty civilian tea room and took off his wet jacket. After ordering his tea, which was the first time he had spoken to someone all day, he pulled out a “couple of stale letters to reread.” One can see the absence of love this soldier endures in his day so far; even more, it seems he cannot accept love and rather chooses the opposite. I believe the narrator’s view is affected when Esme arrives in the tea room. He sees the love she has for her brother, and how motherly she acts towards him, by sitting him down and calming him. Also the maturity and sophistication of her vocabulary impressed him very much, since she was only about eight. The wrist watches were significant to both the narrator and Esme. First, the narrator is very particular about winding his watch, perhaps to attempt to set order in his life. The watch represents life, and the pain that is carried around from the past. Second, he is very interested in Esme’s watch. He mentions how her watch is far to large for her, and therefore carries around far too much pain and squalor. Rather than feel bad for her, he
Professor Xavier Rauscher
English 104
2 October 2013
All You Need is Love In the short story “For Esme With Love and Squalor”, J.D. Salinger tells of an American soldier in England during 1944. He explains how this solider meets a young girl, Esme, that makes a profound effect on his life. By the end of the story, the reader can see the effects the war can have on an individual, and how important Esme really is. In this salinger story, the love of a young girl saves a man from a life of squalor. From the beginning of the story, one can already see how squalor can surround this soldier’s life. He is described to be walking in the rain and lighting, not regarding the lightning strikes at all. On his walk he noticed the Red Cross recreation room, which was crowed with soldiers drinking coffee and playing ping pong. Instead of going inside, he crossed the street to an empty civilian tea room and took off his wet jacket. After ordering his tea, which was the first time he had spoken to someone all day, he pulled out a “couple of stale letters to reread.” One can see the absence of love this soldier endures in his day so far; even more, it seems he cannot accept love and rather chooses the opposite. I believe the narrator’s view is affected when Esme arrives in the tea room. He sees the love she has for her brother, and how motherly she acts towards him, by sitting him down and calming him. Also the maturity and sophistication of her vocabulary impressed him very much, since she was only about eight. The wrist watches were significant to both the narrator and Esme. First, the narrator is very particular about winding his watch, perhaps to attempt to set order in his life. The watch represents life, and the pain that is carried around from the past. Second, he is very interested in Esme’s watch. He mentions how her watch is far to large for her, and therefore carries around far too much pain and squalor. Rather than feel bad for her, he