Just Before the War with the Eskimos (Salinger)
from the Collection “Nine Stories”
Short Summary
New York City, presumably during World War II. After tennis practice, Virginia Mannox (Ginnie) took a cab ride home, irritated at paying the full fare again, since her tennis partner, Selena, never contributed. Arriving at Selena's home, Ginnie demanded repayment and refused Selena's excuses about her mother's pneumonia. Both entered the apartment, where Selena left to get money from her mother.
While waiting alone, Ginnie encountered Selena's brother, Franklin Graff, who entered disheveled, wearing pajamas and glasses, nursing a badly cut finger. Franklin asked if Ginnie had eaten lunch, offered her a chicken sandwich, and complained bitterly about Ginnie's engaged sister being a snob who ignored his letters. Speaking openly, he revealed he had quit working in an airplane factory due to heart issues from childhood rheumatic fever.
After Franklin left, another young man appeared, waiting to take Franklin to the movies and complaining vehemently about his terrible housemate situation. When Selena returned, prepared to pay, Ginnie suddenly dismissed the debt, acknowledging Selena's tennis ball contributions instead. Curious about Franklin after meeting him, Ginnie asked about his work and age before leaving. On her way home, Ginnie reached into her pocket, discovering Franklin's sandwich:
She took it out and started to bring her arm down, to drop the sandwich into the street, but instead she put it back into her pocket. A few years before, it had taken her three days to dispose of the Easter chick.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Ginnie's Conflict with Selena over the Cab Fare
For five consecutive Saturday mornings, Ginnie Mannox had played tennis with Selena Graff at the East Side Courts. Though Ginnie considered Selena the biggest drip at Miss Basehoar's school, she appreciated that Selena always brought fresh tennis balls, as her father made them or was somehow involved in their production. However, Ginnie grew increasingly frustrated that after each tennis session, she ended up paying the entire cab fare home, despite taking the taxi being Selena's idea.
Five straight saturday mornings, Ginnie Mannox had played tennis at the East Side Courts with Selena Graff, a classmate at Miss Basehoar's. Ginnie openly considered Selena the biggest drip at Miss Basehoar's.
On the fifth Saturday, as they rode in a cab heading north on York Avenue, Ginnie finally confronted Selena about the fare situation. Selena claimed she always paid half, but Ginnie pointed out that Selena had only paid her share once, during their first outing the previous month. When Selena argued that she always brought the tennis balls, Ginnie retorted that they didn't cost Selena anything since her father made them. Selena reluctantly checked her pockets and claimed to have only thirty-five cents, offering to pay Ginnie the rest at school on Monday. Ginnie insisted on immediate payment, saying she needed the money for the movies that night.
Meeting Franklin and His Injured Finger
When they arrived at Selena's apartment building, Selena walked ahead into the lobby while Ginnie paid the cab fare. Annoyed, Ginnie followed Selena into the elevator. Selena claimed her mother was ill with near-pneumonia and that Ginnie would be disturbing her just for money. Despite this attempt at guilt, Ginnie remained firm. In the apartment, Selena left Ginnie alone in the living room while she supposedly went to wake her mother for the money.
While waiting, Ginnie heard a male voice call out for someone named Eric. A young man in pajamas and glasses, with no slippers, entered the room. He was cradling his finger, which he had cut on a razor blade while searching through a wastebasket. He showed Ginnie his injury, which was wrapped in toilet paper, and introduced himself as Selena's brother. He was oddly casual with Ginnie, as if he had expected to find her there.
Franklin asked Ginnie about remedies for his cut, and she suggested iodine would be better than mercurochrome. Their conversation took an unexpected turn when Franklin claimed to know Ginnie's sister Joan, describing her as a snob. When Ginnie defended her sister, Franklin insisted that he had written Joan eight letters without receiving any reply. He explained that he had met Joan at a Christmas party in 1942 but couldn't call her because he was in Ohio working in an airplane factory. Franklin couldn't join the military due to heart problems from childhood rheumatic fever.
"Your heart, ya mean?" Ginnie said. "What's the matter with it?" "I don't know what the hell's the matter with it. I had rheumatic fever when I was a kid. Goddam pain in the—"
Ginnie mentioned that her sister was engaged to a lieutenant commander in the Navy named Dick Heffner, which Franklin dismissed with a casual "Big deal." Their conversation continued as Franklin looked out the window and made strange comments about people going to the draft board and an impending war with the Eskimos. He claimed that in this next war, only men around sixty would be allowed to fight, with shorter hours. When Ginnie pointed out that Franklin wouldn't have to go anyway because of his heart condition, he quickly changed the subject and left to get ready, asking Ginnie to tell his friend he'd be out shortly.
"We're gonna fight the Eskimos next. Know that?" "The who?" said Ginnie. "The Eskimos.... Open your ears, for Chrissake." "Why the Eskimos?" "I don't know why. How the hell should I know why?"
Eric's Arrival and Conversations
Before leaving, Franklin returned with half a chicken sandwich and insisted that Ginnie take it. Though reluctant, she accepted it to be polite. After Franklin left, a well-dressed young man in his early thirties entered the room looking for Franklin. Ginnie relayed Franklin's message that he would be out shortly. The man, Eric, sat down and immediately began complaining about his horrible morning, mentioning a writer who had been sharing his apartment and had left, taking many of Eric's belongings.
Eric quickly changed the subject, complimenting Ginnie's camel's hair coat and asking where she got it. Ginnie explained that her mother had brought it back from Nassau in February. Eric mentioned that his mother had been there in December and January, and that he usually accompanied her but couldn't get away that year. He asked if Ginnie was Selena's friend Maxine, which she denied. Eric then checked his watch impatiently, explaining that he and Franklin were going to see Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast," a film he had already seen eight times. He complained about Franklin's taste in movies, mentioning that during the war, when they both worked at the same "horrible place" (presumably the airplane factory), Franklin had dragged him to gangster pictures, Westerns, and musicals.
Ginnie's Departure and Changed Attitude
Selena finally returned to the living room, and Ginnie immediately approached her. Surprisingly, Ginnie told Selena that she no longer wanted the money, acknowledging that Selena did bring the tennis balls every time. Selena was confused by this sudden change of heart, especially since Ginnie had insisted she needed the money for the movies that night. Ginnie brushed this off, saying she was too tired for the movies, and suggested she might call Selena later to come over.
As they walked to the door, Ginnie mentioned meeting Selena's brother. Selena described him as "a character" and explained that he had recently quit his job and was refusing to return to college despite their father's wishes. Selena added that Franklin felt he was too old for college at twenty-four. Ginnie said she would call Selena later and left.
"Take it, for Chrissake. I didn't poison it or anything." Ginnie accepted the sandwich half. "Well, thank you very much," she said. "It's chicken," he said, standing over her, watching her. "Bought it last night in a goddam delicatessen."
Outside, Ginnie started walking toward Lexington Avenue to catch the bus. She reached into her coat pocket for her purse and found the sandwich half Franklin had given her. She initially intended to throw it away but changed her mind and put it back in her pocket, recalling how a few years earlier, it had taken her three days to dispose of a dead Easter chick she had found in her wastebasket.