Laughing Man (Ghost in The Shell) - Salinger References

Salinger References

Other references to Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye include the red hunting cap that the real Laughing Man wears backwards and the baseball mitt with poetry written on it the laughing man carries while under the guise of a patient at a vocational aid center. Another is his reference to "phonies," a term used frequently by Rye's Holden Caulfield. He also frequently uses the phrase "sonuvabitch" said in the style of Holden. Lastly, when Motoko Kusanagi enters the Laughing Man's library near the end of the series, the camera zooms on her hand moving over the phrase "Fuck you" written on the railing. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden says "You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck you' right under your nose."

Another reference taken directly from J. D. Salinger's short story, The Laughing Man, occurs in episode 11 entitled Portraits/In The Forest of the Imagoes. In this episode a child at a vocational aid center refers to a character named Chief who is going to visit, Chief is the name given by the children to The Laughing Man as well as the main character's childhood idol in the short story.

Another reference taken from The Catcher in the Rye is in episode 12 "Escape From". This episode focuses on the Tachikomas, "think" tanks that are employed by Section 9. Batou's personal Tachikoma wanders off in this episode and becomes acquainted with a little girl. This little girl tells the Tachikoma a story called "The Secret Goldfish" which is actually from the first page of Rye. "The Secret Goldfish" is a short story that Holden Caulfield's older brother D.B. writes before he becomes a "prostitute" writing for Hollywood movies. Later in this same episode, there is a poster that reads "Go See Bananafish" in the cyber-brain theatre. This is a reference to "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", another of Salinger's stories. Finally in the same episode, Batou expresses his fondness of Marx Brothers films, although not from the story, Salinger is a known fan of the films.

In episode 22, Motoko Kusanagi (Major) herself quotes The Catcher in the Rye when speaking to the Laughing Man by referring to Wilhelm Stekel, who is quoted in J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as saying, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one" (p. 244).