"Childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day." Critical Lens on Nine Stories and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

As people grow up they are faced with more challenges than when they were children. Milton said, "Childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day." If one's childhood is full of poverty and disdain then their adult hood will be prosperous and loving. J.D. Salinger's book Nine Stories shows that this quote is true in the story Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut. Eloise is forced to face the fact that she is stuck in her past when she was happy, before she met her husband Lew. In another J.D. Salinger book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden struggles with the fact that things aren't like his childhood when Allie was still alive and he had no accountability. Salinger shows that with adult-hood comes responsibility in both his stories.

In Uncle Wiggly, Eloise shows that as a child the activities you participate in very well show the opposite of what you will do as an adult. Eloise has reached middle age, has a child, and is married to a man named Lew. She struggles with internal conflict with her friend Mary Jane on the fact that her childhood is gone and she cannot do the childish activities anymore that made her what she is today. The motif in all of Salinger's stories is that children are innocent. For example, Eloise's daughter Ramona shows this with her imaginary friend Jimmy Jimmereeno. As children we do childish things like imaginary friends that reflect into our adult lives. Eloise talks about when she was with this man named Walt and how he made her so happy and how she had gotten kicked out of college because she got caught with a soldier in an elevator. As she became older and married her husband she lost all of the opportunities that she had before she was married. Eloise realizes by the end of the story that she used to have what she wants now, a fun and carefree childhood.

"Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." This old saying is an allusion to the Critical Lens. A warm and colorful morning can only lead to a cold and dark night. This in turn relates to the Critical Lens in that a happy and relaxed child can only become a high-strung and overbearing adult. For instance, In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden becomes an adult in his three-day journey across New York City. He also has an internal conflict where he struggles with the fact that he is going to need to grow up and take responsibility for his actions. For example, him leaving the fencing gear on the subway. Children forget things often. In adulthood these things are frowned upon. Therefore, as children we must learn lessons from our actions. When Holden was young he was happy. Allie was still alive and playing baseball and he did not have to worry about passing a history exam or going through puberty. After all of that as a child he realizes by the end of his journey that he is going to have responsibility in his adult life and it is not going to be the happy-go-lucky place that he was used to.

As children grow older they are faced with decisions that make them adults. They must make a major change in their lifestyle and must change completely. In both of J.D. Salinger's stories, Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut and The Catcher in the Rye, characters are faced with the fact that adult-hood is upon them. In Uncle Wiggly, Eloise looks back on her experiences when she was younger and realizes that she was a good person and she had everything she ever wanted. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden faces the world and must make decisions that make him a more civilized adult. Both stories prove the point that "Childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day."