Exploring the archetype of Nine Stories—Salinger and the deep connections between him and the characters can help us find the similarities between Salinger’s real life and his inner world, so Jung was careful to explain that archetypes are not inherited ideas or patterns of though, but rather that they are predispositions to respond in similar way to certain stimuli (Guerin et al。 178)。

Archetypal criticism is an important genre of literary criticism which is popular in the study of western literature and criticism trend。 It is a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types of literary works。 Usually, most writers use the gods in Geek, mythology or Bible to create their works, but some writers sometimes take their experiences as the archetype of their works。

2。 Literature Review

In the contemporary American literary history, J。 D。 Salinger has a unique position and he has always been the research target of Chinese academia。

In China, people began to learn about Salinger begin from his long novel The Catcher in the Rye。 In 1980s, Professor Hou Weirui, who was from Shanghai International Studies University thought Salinger’s works are “the perfect combination of personality and typicality”。 The domestic research on Salinger's other works was almost blank in the early stage, but in recent decades, especially after entering the new century, this phenomenon has changed a lot。 Scholars and researchers begin to pay more attention to Salinger's other published works。 They found Nine Stories shows more pain and struggle after the leading characters suffer from their minds and it focuses on the possibility and ways of seeking self-salvation。 Also Salinger wants to save western mental crisis by absorbing orientalism。论文网

The studies of Salinger in western countries started earlier than in China。 There is a website called “Dead Caulfields” which is universally acknowledged by Salinger’s fans and it is the most authoritative and the most reliable information website。 Margaret A。 Salinger, daughter of J。D。 Salinger, wrote a memoir named Dream Catcher: A Memoir。 In the book she described her father as an unpleasant recluse。 But some people thought Salinger is a master of initiation novel who guided the young generation to the mature road, and most critics thought Nine Stories is a very good collection of short stories。

The idea of this paper is different from the mentioned views。 It intends to use archetypal criticism to analyze the connections between J。 D。 Salinger and the characters created in the Nine Stories, and find the similarities between the novel and Salinger’s personal experience which is the archetype of Nine Stories。

3。 The conscious dreams of Archetypal Criticism in Nine Stories

3。1 The definition of conscious dreams

Jung detected an intimate relationship between dreams, myths, and art in that all three serve as media through which archetypes become accessible to consciousness。 (Guerin et al。 179) Archetypes reveal themselves in the personality of inpiduals, they reveal their dreams in the characters ’ dream so we can find resemblances and subliming of someplace。

3。2 The application of conscious dreams in Nine Stories

Salinger, the archetype of Nine Stories, he transmitted his dreams of the “inner world” through the art。 The raw material of his dreams is the army experience so there are many images of soldier in Nine Stories。 In the first story A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Seymour who committed suicide when he had the first vacation with his fiancée Muriel in Florida in 1948。When Seymour lying on the beach, he won’t take his bathrobe off because he doesn’t want a lot of fools looking at his tattoo, though he doesn’t have any tattoo in the army。 It’s not the signet on his body but in his heart。 Salinger was drafted into the army on 27th April 1942。 He experienced The Normandy Invasion, Edmund Village Battle, the “Bloody”, Herten Forest Battle, Notorious concentration camp。 During the Second World War, the regiment which Salinger belonged to, lost 1950 people, the number is about 63 % of the original number。 After the Second World War, countless soldiers suffered from what we called toady “Post-war Traumatic Depressed Disorder”。 Most soldiers had to suffer in silence, although they can return homes, blend into the crowd, they still need to fight against the devil in their heart。 Salinger was different from these people, he found the strength from writing and he wrote for the soldiers who can’t express their feelings through words。 Salinger was not fighting for the liberation of France or the defense of democracy。 Like all the other soldiers within the group, he was filled with a pure spirit of selflessness, he fought not for the army, but for the comrades around him。 Seymour also lost many colleagues in the army, he suffered the sadness of the loss of friends。 People around him, who enjoyed their pleasant life, cannot understand Seymour, as he wanted to use the bathrobe to isolate the indifference between him and the strangers。 When he was talking with Sybil, he said: “Well, it’s about time he got here, your daddy。 I’ve been expecting him hourly。 Hourly。” (Salinger Nine 192)After the cruel war, Seymour didn’t think the little girl’s daddy can go back to his family。 Just like Salinger, he knew the large casualties of the regiment。 文献综述