Summary
It was 1944 in the city of Devon, England. It was very rainy out on the day that a group Americans enlisted in a special pre-invasion course finished up. One of the soldiers walks into town and looks at a bulletin board. He noticed a sheet with a list of children that had to be at the choir practice in the church next to the bulletin board. He enters the church to listen to a children’s choir rehearsal. One of the girls in the choir stands out to the soldier. He thought that the girls voice was sweeter and nicer than all of the others.
The soldier left the church and went into a tearoom to get out of the rain. The soldier notices that the girl he was fascinated by with her little brother and their governess. The soldier asks the girl to accompany him. Her name is Esme, and she and her brother Charles are orphans because both of their parents had died. She wears his military watch to remember her father. The two talk for a while and Esme asks the soldier to write her a letter.
The scene changes and it is revealed that the soldier is called Sergeant X. It was several weeks after V-E Day and Sergeant X is stationed in Bavaria. Sergeant X looks through his of unopened letters and discovers a small package, from Devon, England. It contains a letter from Esme and Charles, and she gives X her father’s wristwatch and suggests that he “wear it for the duration of the war”. He is moved and begins to regain his faculties that he had lost through the war (Salinger).
Key Passages
"It was a long time before X could set the note aside, let alone lift Esme's father's wristwatch out of the box. When he did finally lift it out, he saw that its crystal had been broken in transit. He wondered if the watch was other wise undamaged, but he hadn't the courage to wind it and find out . He just sat with it in his hand for another long period. Then, suddenly, almost ecstatically, he felt sleepy" (Salinger 114). - This passage shows that the gift of the watch meant a lot to Sergeant X. He knew how much the watch ment to Esme. This watch was the only thing that she had of her fathers and she was willing to give it to her friend. Esme giving the watch to Sergeant X almost immediately changed the way that he had been feeling. He was a man who had mental breakdowns and with the gift has began the process of getting back to normal.
"Her voice was distinctly separate from the other children's voices, and not just because she was seated nearest me. It had the best upper register, the sweetest-sounding, the surest, and it automatically led the way. The young woman, however, seemed slightly bored with her own singing ability, or perhaps just the time and place; twice, between verses, I saw her yawn. It was a lady-like yawn, a closed-mouth yawn, but you couldn't miss it; her nostril wings gave her away" (Salinger 90). - This passage explains how Sergeant X views Esme the first time he sees her. She seemed to mesmerize him in all that she did. He seemed to not only be interested by her stand out voice but her ability to do it with ease. Sergeant X displays his view of Esme as an untainted youth in this passage
It was 1944 in the city of Devon, England. It was very rainy out on the day that a group Americans enlisted in a special pre-invasion course finished up. One of the soldiers walks into town and looks at a bulletin board. He noticed a sheet with a list of children that had to be at the choir practice in the church next to the bulletin board. He enters the church to listen to a children’s choir rehearsal. One of the girls in the choir stands out to the soldier. He thought that the girls voice was sweeter and nicer than all of the others.
The soldier left the church and went into a tearoom to get out of the rain. The soldier notices that the girl he was fascinated by with her little brother and their governess. The soldier asks the girl to accompany him. Her name is Esme, and she and her brother Charles are orphans because both of their parents had died. She wears his military watch to remember her father. The two talk for a while and Esme asks the soldier to write her a letter.
The scene changes and it is revealed that the soldier is called Sergeant X. It was several weeks after V-E Day and Sergeant X is stationed in Bavaria. Sergeant X looks through his of unopened letters and discovers a small package, from Devon, England. It contains a letter from Esme and Charles, and she gives X her father’s wristwatch and suggests that he “wear it for the duration of the war”. He is moved and begins to regain his faculties that he had lost through the war (Salinger).
Key Passages
"It was a long time before X could set the note aside, let alone lift Esme's father's wristwatch out of the box. When he did finally lift it out, he saw that its crystal had been broken in transit. He wondered if the watch was other wise undamaged, but he hadn't the courage to wind it and find out . He just sat with it in his hand for another long period. Then, suddenly, almost ecstatically, he felt sleepy" (Salinger 114). - This passage shows that the gift of the watch meant a lot to Sergeant X. He knew how much the watch ment to Esme. This watch was the only thing that she had of her fathers and she was willing to give it to her friend. Esme giving the watch to Sergeant X almost immediately changed the way that he had been feeling. He was a man who had mental breakdowns and with the gift has began the process of getting back to normal.
"Her voice was distinctly separate from the other children's voices, and not just because she was seated nearest me. It had the best upper register, the sweetest-sounding, the surest, and it automatically led the way. The young woman, however, seemed slightly bored with her own singing ability, or perhaps just the time and place; twice, between verses, I saw her yawn. It was a lady-like yawn, a closed-mouth yawn, but you couldn't miss it; her nostril wings gave her away" (Salinger 90). - This passage explains how Sergeant X views Esme the first time he sees her. She seemed to mesmerize him in all that she did. He seemed to not only be interested by her stand out voice but her ability to do it with ease. Sergeant X displays his view of Esme as an untainted youth in this passage