The Laughing Man (short story)
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"The Laughing Man" is a short story by
J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...
, published originally in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' on March 19, 1949; and also in Salinger's short story collection '' Nine Stories''. It largely takes the structure of a
story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
and is thematically occupied with the relationship between narrative and narrator, and the end of youth. The story is inspired by the 1869
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
novel of the same name: ''
The Man Who Laughs ''The Man Who Laughs'' (also published under the title ''By Order of the King'' from its subtitle in French) is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title ''L'Homme qui rit''. It takes place in England beg ...
'' (''L'homme qui rit'').


Plot summary

An unnamed narrator recounts his experiences as a nine-year-old member of the Comanche Club in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1928. The leader of the club, “The Chief”, is a young law student at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
who is described as lacking in physical attractiveness but appears beautiful to the narrator. He is widely respected by his troop for his athletic strength and storytelling ability. Every day, after the troop has completed its activities, The Chief gathers the boys for the next episode in an ongoing story about the eponymous Laughing Man. In the format of a serial adventure novel, The Chief's story describes the Laughing Man as the child of missionaries who was kidnapped by bandits in China, who deformed his face by compressing it in a vise; he was obliged to wear a mask, but compensated by being profoundly athletic and possessed of a great
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
-like charm and the ability to speak with animals. The narrator summarizes the Chief's ever more fantastic installments of the Laughing Man's escapades, presenting him as a sort of comic book hero crossing “the Chinese-Paris border” to commit acts of heroic larceny and tweaking his nose at his archenemy “Marcel Dufarge, the internationally famous detective and witty consumptive”. Eventually, The Chief takes up with a young woman, Mary Hudson, a student at
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
who is described as both very beautiful and something of a tomboy. As the Chief's relationship with Mary waxes and wanes, so too do the fortunes of The Laughing Man. One day, the Chief presents an installment where the Laughing Man is taken prisoner by his arch-rival, bound to a tree, and in mortal danger; then he ends the episode on a cliffhanger. Immediately afterward, the Chief brings his troop to a baseball diamond, where Mary Hudson arrives. The Chief and Mary have a conversation out of earshot from the boys, and then both return, together yet distraught. In the final installment of the story, the Chief kills off the Laughing Man, much to the Comanches’ dismay.


Film adaptation

Salinger was reluctant to allow his works to be adapted for film. However, he instructed the entertainment licenses department of his literary agency,
Harold Ober Harold Ober (1881–1959) was an American literary agent. In 1907 — two years after graduating from Harvard with a degree in literature — Harold Ober became a literary agent at the Paul R. Reynolds Literary Agency. By 1908 he was representing ...
Associates, to send his story out to producers for a potential film deal. The move was motivated by financial need, but the interested parties only expressed desire to adapt his novel ''
The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...
''.


References in other media

In season 1 of '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'', the "Laughing Man case" is a main plot line, incorporating references to stories by J. D. Salinger. In
Whit Stillman John Whitney Stillman (born January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director and actor known for his 1990 film '' Metropolitan'', which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his other f ...
's ''
The Last Days of Disco ''The Last Days of Disco'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman, and loosely based on his travels and experiences in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including Studio 54. Starring Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beck ...
'' (1998), the character Alice is asked what her dream book to publish would be. She answers, a book of new J.D. Salinger stories "more in the direction of ''The Laughing Man'', or ''Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters''..."


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laughing Man, The Short stories by J. D. Salinger 1949 short stories Works originally published in The New Yorker Adaptations of works by Victor Hugo