An endless discussion

It's amazing, really, that all these years later, readers still argue about the ending of Salinger's short story "Teddy." And I still hold a minority view.

But I'm right, of course. I'm right because the central issue is this: is the swimming pool full or empty? My assumption is that Salinger is a gifted writer. He knows what he is doing.

So why on earth is there reason to believe that the pool is empty? Because Teddy prefaces a story by saying, let's assume today is the day they clean the pool, i.e. it's not actually the day. Now if Salinger WANTED the pool to be empty, he'd just have Teddy say, Today's the day they clean the pool, and then he'd tell his story. But he doesn't say that. He says it isn't the day, but let's pretend it is.

And this means either the pool is full -- or some gods have intervened, like a deus ex machina, and suddenly changed the cleaning day. Salinger would never do something like this. He's too good to let this happen.

So whatever interpretation one has, it must include a FULL swimming pool. And, of course, the majority reading has the pool empty, which is impossible unless Salinger sucks as a craftsman.

The pool is full. Live with it and interpret the story accordingly.

My 1976 short story Teddy At the Pool gives my interpretation.