Call me morbid, but at the end of Salinger's “Teddy” I thought that Teddy killed himself. Before you hurriedly click out of this possibly pretty negative blog post, hear me out.
So I don’t actually think Teddy was this boy genius type of kid. Maybe I’m just super skeptical, but I definitely saw aspects of mental illness, specifically Schizophrenia (there’s actually a whole article on the relationship between Schizophrenia and some religions, it’s really interesting, google it). Schizophrenia is defined as a complex mental disorder characterized by a difficulty in recognizing reality, regulating emotional responses, and thinking in a clear and logical manner. I thought that Teddy’s extreme religious views (reincarnation, etc.) were a cause of his difficulty in recognizing reality. To me, it seemed as though Teddy was living in a fictitious world made up by himself, also supporting the thinking in a clear and logical manner part of Schizophrenia.
Schizophrenics often develop faulty beliefs based on hallucinatory experiences. Many researchers think that Schizophrenia can be a direct link to extreme religious beliefs. (Not saying you’re Schizophrenic if you’re religious, this is like super extreme cases.) Though alternatively, religion can be a trigger for Schizophrenia. So which came first for Teddy?
An estimated 20-40% of Schizophrenics attempt suicide at some point. If my (odd) theory was correct, and Teddy was indeed Schizophrenic, the idea of him committing suicide becomes far more plausible. Compared to the general population, Schizophrenics are eight times more likely to commit suicide.
According to WebMD, the four criteria for a typical suicidal Schizophrenic patient are:
- Being a male under age 30 (check)
- Have a higher IQ (check)
- Have been a high achiever as an adolescent and young adult (check)
- Be painfully aware of schizophrenia's effect on his mental state (maybe?)
Teddy fits into at least three of these categories. Again, I know this is morbid. Sorry! But I think Teddy finally grew tired of dealing with this day after day, and felt as though he couldn't talk to anyone because he was supposed to be this super smart young boy being interviewed by professors and doctors around the world, and killed himself. This would also explain why he knew the two possible dates it would happen, since it was in his control.
I know you guys are probably not schizophrenic, but If you or someone you know are thinking about suicide, please visit this website: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
(Also here's the link to the article I mentioned: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.117.217&rep=rep1&type=pdf)
You have made an interesting point here. It is obvious that you have done your research on the condition and have made the connections between Teddy and the condition. I have talked about this before on another blog but I believed that Teddy killed himself as well. However, I believed that this was because he was ready for a new life with new experiences and opportunities to learn and teach others. It is impossible to every know what was going through Teddy's mind and what actually happened during that moment. You made me look at this event in a way that I would have never done before. Great post!
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea, Siena. Teddy's troubled character and ultimate (assumed) death could easily suggest some form of mental illness. I hadn't thought that his religious views could suggest something along the lines of Schizophrenia; I simply used them as further evidence for Teddy being beyond his years when it comes to intelligence and sophistication. As I wrote in my blog post, his nonchalance towards such a morbid topic like death seemed eerie, but given the ideology he believed in, it's certainly understandable. However, the incident was a sudden one, so if he suffered from Schizophrenia, his suicide would definitely make more sense.
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ReplyDeleteI've been interpreting the short Teddy's ambiguous ending as Teddy actually having multiple lives and being able to predict his own death, but your post presented a new angle that explains most of Teddy's behaviour pretty well, especially the point on schizophrenia and religion. However, there's one remaining question that's bugging me: why did Teddy kill himself? The down-to-earth nature of his journals, where ostensibly he's keeping his most private thoughts, suggest that he isn't having an hallucinations or voices compelling him to kill himself. Even when he predicts his own death, it isn't exact: he says that it also could happen when he is 16. I'm interesting in hearing your theories on this.
ReplyDeleteThis notion of Teddy being Schizophrenic makes a lot of sense to me. If Teddy does indeed have a mental disorder, I think it makes the the connection between him and the character Seymour from "A perfect day for Bananafish" even stronger. We know that Seymour has some sort of mental disorder but it seems like Teddy doesn't have these emotional responses like Seymour. We get this sense that Teddy is some sort of child prodigy who has everything going for him whereas Seymour has nothing going for him. Since both the first and last stories in this book mirror each other so much, I think its quite possible that Teddy did commit suicide at the end.
ReplyDeleteWow! I was very skeptical of your suggestion that Teddy wasn't actually some religious expert, but you really convinced me with this evidence! This really fits what happened with Teddy, and I think it would also explain his death very well. I like this version of events, because I was kind of confused why Salinger would write a story about meditation and divine revelation.
ReplyDeleteYour evidence is very hard to argue against, and this is definitely a real possibility. All the facts for your argument line up with the story and I can't find a way to disprove your theory. However despite your solid argument, I still think of Teddy as the religious genius character that Salinger seems to make him out to be. Although many people seem to be skeptical, Teddy may truly be a spiritual genius and actually have predicted his death. I don't see any holes in the argument for Teddy being a religious expert. Also, would Salinger have expected his audience to manage to draw a connection between Teddy and his character to schizophrenia? Of course that's exactly what you did here (amazingly), but I don't think many people would have drawn a connection between the two.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Minwoo: I think that your evidence supports your claim very well, and it's almost eerie how well it lines up. However, I saw the story as a statement more about the wisdom of children, rather than about a mental health condition. Also, I'm not entirely sure that Teddy killed himself. Rather, he seems to have predicted his death and does nothing to prevent it (I'm not sure if that's exactly suicide). This definitely makes Teddy's "spiritual genius" character more convincing. I am still interested in the schizophrenia idea, though: I wonder if Salinger had any exposure to it or motive to write about it?
ReplyDeleteWhile schizophrenia does seem to line up well Teddy's behavior, it does seem unlikely that's what Salinger what trying to accomplish. It would be odd if the main idea behind a very spiritual seeming character was a very worldly mental illness. Readers are free to take what they read however they like however, and unintentional characteristics (like schizophrenia in this case) are still present. It is interesting to see interpretations of the text that the author may not have intended, and perhaps how the author may have reacted to it.
ReplyDeleteWow this is a great idea/observation you pointed out, and it's really well supported! When I was reading Teddy the link between schizophrenia and Teddy wasn't really formed... but now it's something that I believe, but with one little problem: if Teddy had schizophrenia and came to be seen as a super genius, then why don't other people with schizophrenia be seen as super geniuses, but instead are put in a mental hospital?
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