Teddy

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1953

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Summary

Background

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Literary Devices

Ambiguous Ending

By shifting the focus of the final scene from Teddy to Bob Nicholson, Salinger gives “Teddy” an ambiguous ending open to multiple interpretations. Instead of revealing Teddy’s fate, the short story ends with Nicholson hearing Booper’s “acoustical” scream, and both he and reader are left to interpret what happened in the pool room. The ending reflects the story as a whole—a story that explores The Search for Spiritual Enlightenment. Philosophical questions lack concrete answers, and are thus open to interpretation. The ambiguous ending is characteristic of Salinger’s Postmodern writing, which challenges the idea of a single, objective truth. Although originally published as a standalone story, “Teddy” was later included in Salinger’s collection Nine Stories. By leaving this story ambiguous, he leaves the collection open to different connections between stories.

Dialogue

Although the story is written in objective third-person perspective, which creates distance between reader and characters, Salinger’s dialogue allows the reader more insight into each character’s perspective. Each character speaks with distinct diction and style, often with dark humor. Not only does Salinger use dialogue to characterize, but explore philosophical conflict between Teddy and Nicholson. Nicholson becomes increasingly frustrated with Teddy’s views on religion and education, but continues to engage him—revealing more about his own need to argue and prove correct than any of Teddy’s shortcomings.

Foreshadowing

Salinger employs foreshadowing to provide some context for the story’s ambiguous ending. From the opening scene, the threat of violence looms, as Mr. and Mrs. McArdle make dark jokes: He threatens to “kick [Mrs. McArdle’s] head in,” and she claims “[Mr. McArdle] is going to die of a tragic, tragic heart attack” (124). Booper also speaks of murder, while Teddy keeps track of the time so as to honor their swimming lesson. These hints invite readers to piece together Teddy’s fate for themselves.

Imagery

In a short story, every detail counts: Teddy’s observations enrich the unchanging setting of the ocean liner, by allowing objects like orange peels and luxury items to take on deeper meaning. While retrieving a camera, a physical object, he ends up engaging with philosophical ideas—and with them, physical, poetic imagery (like cicadas). The ocean liner itself enriches the story with the image of passage from one place (or life) to another. In many cases, imagery is foreshadowing: For example, the early introduction of the orange peels evokes a disconnected body and provides something for readers to hold onto as the story progresses.