Literary Devices in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The bride's great-uncle, a.k.a. the deaf-mute, a.k.a. the man in the silk hat with the Havana cigar, is probably one of the most cryptic elements of "Roof Beam." Buddy is immediately drawn to this...
Setting
"Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" takes place in New York City in late May of 1942 and is narrated by the fictional Buddy Glass in 1955. "Seymour: an Introduction" takes place and is narrated...
Narrator Point of View
Though Buddy is telling the story of Seymour, he is centrally a part of the narrative. We learn as much about him as we do about his subject, and so we've elected to consider him a central, rather...
Genre
We would argue that "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" is the drama center, while "Seymour: an Introduction" fits the bill for modernist literature. "Roof Beam" is dialogue-heavy, and its theme...
Tone
As the rather dominant narrator of both of these stories, Buddy doesn't leave much space between himself and the author (Salinger, that is). In other words, Buddy's tone is pretty much Salinger's t...
Writing Style
Meta-fiction is a type of fiction that addresses the fact that it is fiction. Usually, fiction pretends that it is real. See Spot Run doesn't ask you to think about Spot's status as a fictional cha...
What's Up With the Title?
"Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenter" and "Seymour: an Introduction" were originally published separately, several years apart. When they were combined in this short story collection, Salinger chos...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
The actors by their presence always convince me, to my horror, that most of what I've written about them until now is false. It is false because I write about them with steadfast love (even now, wh...
What's Up With the Ending?
Buddy spends most of "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and all of "Seymour: an Introduction" looking at most people as though they were, in the words of The Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfie...
Plot Analysis
As narrator Buddy Glass openly admits, "Seymour: an Introduction" is as far from a typical short story as you can get. It's more of a collection of anecdotes and thoughts than a structured narrativ...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Neither of our two stories in this case fits the template for a Booker plot. "Seymour: an Introduction" is, as we know, far from a typically structured story. And while we can take a look at "Roof...
Three Act Plot Analysis
As narrator Buddy Glass openly admits, "Seymour: an Introduction" is as far from a typical short story as you can get. It's more of a collection of anecdotes and thoughts than a structured narrativ...
Trivia
Salinger's book dedication of Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction is as follows: "If there is an amateur reader still left in the world – or anybody who just rea...
Steaminess Rating
It's certainly not kid stuff, but Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction is definitely kid-friendly. There's a brief allusion to sex in "Roof Beam," but only in the conte...
Allusions
Sappho, Fragment LP 111 (The title, 1.3.28)William Shakespeare ("Seymour" 1.1)William Shakespeare, Macbeth: The Lieutenant jokingly refers to Buddy as "Macduff" ("Roof Beam" 2.152); the line "someb...