Teddy

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.

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.