Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes has a lot of ambiguity in it, like many other Salinger stories such as the Laughing Man, Teddy, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and really all the stories in the collection Nine Stories. In class, one of the most debated question in this story is on the relationship between Joanie and Lee. At first, I was a supporter that Joanie wasn't having any sort of affair with Lee. For most of the period, I defended that point of view; I would find a counter argument to any opposing theories, such as:
- The argument about Lee's and Joanie's relief when they convinced Arthur that Lee's not with her. While many people argued that their relief showed that they were having an abnormal relationship, I argued that they just didn't want Arthur to misunderstand them.
- The argument of where Lee didn't want Arthur to come to his house/apartment to have a drink; again the mainstream theory was different from mine, implying that Arthur is having a sexual relationship with Joanie and doesn't want him to find out. I argued, however, that Lee is trying to hide Joanie from Arthur, which makes sense because Arthur is pretty darn drunk.
- The argument that Joanie seems to be really close to Lee, especially in the scene where they are talking on the phone and Joanie puts her ear up to the phone too; I argued that she was just interested in hearing what her drunk husband would say about her when he's drunk.
- That argument that Lee defends Joanie when Arthur talks crap about her, and that might indicate that he has feelings for her; I said it was very possible that Lee just doesn't want to get involved between their problems and just wants to stay neutral, not taking sides (because if he agrees with Arthur that Joanie is a slut then he would be taking his side, pissing off Joanie who at the time is right next to him).
Near the end of class, either Elissa or Mr. Mitchell brought up how Joanie said, "God! I feel like an absolute dog!" No matter what I tried to think up, I couldn't find a reasonable explanation that could refute the idea that Joanie and Lee had a sexual relationship - the only reason she would call herself a "dog" is if she had a extramarital relationship with someone. For a couple of days after that class period I left the "innocent faction" and became a part of the "slept-with-Lee Faction". It was only a couple hours ago that I came up with the simple (but somewhat far-fetched) idea that maybe Joanie had a sexual relationship with someone that wasn't Arthur nor Lee, and she came to hide at Lee's house after the party in order to avoid Arthur, and that Lee was angry at himself not because he had a sexual relationship with Joanie, but that he was feeling guilty for not telling Lee what Joanie did and to some extend help her cheat on him. I guess I separated from both of these factions and joined my own, the "Lee's-fine-but-Joanie's-not faction".
Another question brought up in class is how close Arthur and Lee are. Even though we have moved onto a different book, this question's still stuck in my head because there are so many possibilities. As of right now, I believe that they are best friends who also work together, as seen by the court case with a person named young and how Arthur called him when he was drunk (and spewed all his personal crap that only his best friend should know). However, there are a lot more clues that I didn't take into consideration... what do you guys think about their relationship?
I think Joanie was the women that was with Lee, and because it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that she would call herself a dog about just abandoning her husband, not about sleeping with Lee, it does seem from the intimate position they are initially found in, shows that they are in a physical relationship. I think that Arthur and Lee are co-workers, as with the case, but I don't think they're best friends. It seems like they may go out an get a drink or have each other over for dinner, it doesn't seem like they are besties.
ReplyDeleteI found your self determined "new faction" to be really interesting. It had never occured to me that Joanie might have been sleeping with someone else other than Lee, making her still unfaithful but taking the blame away from Lee. Im not sure that I totally agree with this conclusion, but in a way I want it to be true because I found Lee to be a pretty liekable character and so it kind of sucks if he is facilitating Joanie's infidelity. as for their relationship, I agree with you that they are probably close friends that work together as indicated by the court case conversation.
ReplyDeleteThe "new faction" is interesting however what would be the reason for Joanie's showed affection toward Lee by calling him "darling"? It is possible that she's just that type of person that calls everyone darling. I think that Lee and Arthur are probably pretty close given that Arthur goes to Lee for advice. This is also possibly not an indication of them being close but rather just Arthur's suspicion towards Lee.
ReplyDeleteI just looked at my blog post, and half of it is white! I just fixed this problem. Sorry about that! (btw this doesn't count as a blog post @Mr.Mitchell)
ReplyDeleteThere are ambiguities that remain at the end of this story, but for me they have to do with friendship and trust and how Lee obviously feels so terrible about making his friend lie to save face like that. I don't see any question, once we get to the ending, about the fact that Joanie is there, with Lee, in bed, when she is supposed to be at home with Arthur. That doesn't mean she's a bad person, of course--from what we hear, Arthur is a suspicious, controlling, and even demeaning husband who thinks his wife is dumb and not worth listening to most of the time. We can sympathize with her desire to get away from him, maybe. But the facts of the story, once we figure them out, seem pretty clear-cut to me.
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