"The Stranger" is a short story written by J. D. Salinger first published in the December 1, 1945 issue of Collier's magazine.
Plot
It tells the story of Babe Gladwaller, who has recently left the 12th regiment of the United States Army and has gone to visit the former girlfriend of Vincent Caulfield with his younger sister Mattie.
Explaining that he is in a rush, he sits down with the woman and gives her the details of Vincent's death, "shooting down" the lies of how soldiers' deaths are portrayed in movies and popular culture. Babe mentions the post-war prospect of teaching, the profession of other characters in his stories, and one that he himself considered at one point.
References
- Salinger, J. D. (1 December 1945). "The Stranger". Collier's Weekly. New York: Crowell-Collier Publishing Company.
- Fiene, R. M. (Spring 1963). "J. D. Salinger: A Bibliography". Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature. 4: 109–149. doi:10.2307/1207189. JSTOR 1207189.
- Weber, Myles (Spring 2001). "J. D. Salinger Partly Seen". The Sewanee Review. 110 (2): 52–54.
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