A critical analysis of 'Down at the dinghy,' by David Salinger

Authors Avatar

Down at the Dinghy

        Down at the dinghy is another one of many great short stories written by Jerome David Salinger. It is based upon a relationship between a run away child; and his parents who try and reason with the boy for a reason why. Although the relationship is perceived to start on the wrong foot it most certainly concludes with a light-hearted ending.

         The novel is mainly based around a child aged four. The problem with this child is that he prefers to ‘flee from his natural habitat.’ For unknown circumstances we see that the boy is under a lot of stress of some kind as he seems to be a very melancholy young soul for a child of that age. This maybe due to the location that the house is situated in. It can clearly be seen by the passages that the boy lives in an area in which there are no children of his age, and generally at all. This may have a toll on the boy as children require some kind of friend of a young age that has the same type of developing understanding so that they can perform various activities that a child of that certain age, and that certain age only perform. I believe this is the case as seen right at the beginning of the novel. The maid, Mildred Snell is complaining about an incident where the boy ‘Lionel,’ was hidden beneath the table, thus his presence going unnoticed by her. This is why she accidentally manages to step upon the boy’s hand, which is starting to drive her ‘loony.’ Not only is it her, but indeed I suspect that the child is also being driven insane with the presence of another child missing from his life. This can be seen by the way in which the locations that he flees to seem to be related to that of prime ‘hangouts’ of young children. This is such as the park and the mall, which is significant as shown in the novel as,

Join now!

        ‘The mall’s where all the kids go skating’ in New York,’ Sandra said very sociably to Mrs Snell. ‘The kids and all.’ This quote shows that Lionel is yearning for another childlike influence, this is why he flees to where he knows there are other children that he can communicate and socialise with.

        The second most important or significant character is most definitely Boo Boo Tannenbaum, the mother of the Lionel, and a suspected Indian American, living in a stately home, as the maid would clearly suggest. Boo Boo is a character that has a great impact upon the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay