The story, told in the first-person by a narrator named Garrity, takes place days after D-Day. Garrity describes a friend of his, another soldier named Gardner, who is suffering from battle fatigue. Gardner is in the hospital, hallucinating. He sees a soldier in his room dressed in a futuristic uniform with weaponry he doesn't recognize. Garrity finds out that the soldier he sees is in fact Gardner's son (who has not been born yet) about to go into combat during World War II. Gardner tells Garrity he must kill him, to prevent him from dying in combat and hopefully preventing the future war. The story ends abruptly with Garrity leaving the hospital, while Gardner screams in horror.
Historyedit
“‘The Magic Foxhole’ is a strong condemnation of war and one that could have been written only by a soldier…Its message countered the propaganda common in 1944 with a frankness that could have been interpreted as subversive…Even had this story slipped by the military censors, it is hard to imagine a publisher with the courage to print it.”—Biographer Kenneth Slawenski in J. D. Salinger: A Life (2010)[1]
The 21 page story was written in 1944[2] while Salinger was in the service during D-Day “the first he wrote while on the front line and the only work in which he depicted active combat.”[3] and was submitted to The New Yorker but rejected. The story is noteworthy for its graphic descriptions of the combat during the D-Day invasion. Salinger noted in at least one letter[4] he believed the piece was a demonstration of the "psychological drama" he began to place in his character's heads, particularly war veterans. He had a high opinion of the piece, which will not be published until 2060, and after much discussion it was planned to be included in the collection he arranged with Whit Burnett and Story Press' Lippincott imprint,[5] but the deal fell through, much to the author's consternation.
Footnotesedit
^Slawenski, 2010 p. 103-104: Elliped section from p. 104 reads: “Salinger predicted that his wartime stories would ‘not be published for generations.’”
^JD Salinger: an annotated bibliography, 1938-1981JR Sublette. 1984. Scholarly Title.
^Ian Hamilton Working Papers for J. D. Salinger: A Writing Life, 1934-1988. Princeton Firestone Library. Correspondence of J. D. Salinger (copies), 1934-1973. Box 3, Folder 7. [1] .
^Salinger: a biography. pg. 119. Paul Alexander - 1999
magic, foxhole, unpublished, short, story, salinger, short, story, salingercountryunited, stateslanguageenglishpublicationpublished, inunpublished, contents, plot, history, footnotes, sourcesplot, editthe, story, told, first, person, narrator, named, garrity, . The Magic Foxhole is an unpublished short story by J D Salinger The Magic Foxhole Short story by J D SalingerCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishPublicationPublished inUnpublished Contents 1 Plot 2 History 3 Footnotes 4 SourcesPlot editThe story told in the first person by a narrator named Garrity takes place days after D Day Garrity describes a friend of his another soldier named Gardner who is suffering from battle fatigue Gardner is in the hospital hallucinating He sees a soldier in his room dressed in a futuristic uniform with weaponry he doesn t recognize Garrity finds out that the soldier he sees is in fact Gardner s son who has not been born yet about to go into combat during World War II Gardner tells Garrity he must kill him to prevent him from dying in combat and hopefully preventing the future war The story ends abruptly with Garrity leaving the hospital while Gardner screams in horror History edit The Magic Foxhole is a strong condemnation of war and one that could have been written only by a soldier Its message countered the propaganda common in 1944 with a frankness that could have been interpreted as subversive Even had this story slipped by the military censors it is hard to imagine a publisher with the courage to print it Biographer Kenneth Slawenski in J D Salinger A Life 2010 1 The 21 page story was written in 1944 2 while Salinger was in the service during D Day the first he wrote while on the front line and the only work in which he depicted active combat 3 and was submitted to The New Yorker but rejected The story is noteworthy for its graphic descriptions of the combat during the D Day invasion Salinger noted in at least one letter 4 he believed the piece was a demonstration of the psychological drama he began to place in his character s heads particularly war veterans He had a high opinion of the piece which will not be published until 2060 and after much discussion it was planned to be included in the collection he arranged with Whit Burnett and Story Press Lippincott imprint 5 but the deal fell through much to the author s consternation Footnotes edit Slawenski 2010 p 103 104 Elliped section from p 104 reads Salinger predicted that his wartime stories would not be published for generations JD Salinger an annotated bibliography 1938 1981JR Sublette 1984 Scholarly Title Slawenski 2010 p 103 Ian Hamilton Working Papers for J D Salinger A Writing Life 1934 1988 Princeton Firestone Library Correspondence of J D Salinger copies 1934 1973 Box 3 Folder 7 1 Salinger a biography pg 119 Paul Alexander 1999Sources editSlawenski Kenneth 2010 J D Salinger A Life Random House New York ISBN 978 1 4000 6951 4 nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1940s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Magic Foxhole amp oldid 1152680805, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
