The Magic Foxhole
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| "The Magic Foxhole" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by J. D. Salinger | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Unpublished |
"The Magic Foxhole" is an unpublished short story by J. D. Salinger.
The story, told in the first-person by a narrator named Garrity, takes place days after D-Day. Garrity describes a friend of his, another soldier named Gardner, who is suffering from battle fatigue. Gardner is in the hospital, hallucinating. He sees a soldier in his room dressed in a futuristic uniform with weaponry he doesn't recognize. Garrity finds out that the soldier he sees is in fact Gardner's son (who has not been born yet) about to go into combat during World War III. Gardner tells Garrity he must kill him, to prevent him from dying in combat and hopefully preventing the future war. The story ends abruptly with Garrity leaving the hospital, while Gardner screams in horror.
