# Please help me identify this short story

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-short-story/696279>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 23, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-short-story/696279 "2014-08-23T05:57:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-short-story/696279/1 "2014-08-23T05:57:41Z")

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I remember reading a story from the 1950s or maybe early 60s by an American writer, takes place in I think rural New England, I believe at a summer home. The plot revolves around a youngish mother and her small son. I think the dad was not present (off working?) and is written in third person omniscient, but the mother is the POV character. In the course of the story it’s revealed that the nanny/housekeeper has made some anti-Semitic remarks in the hearing of the boy, not knowing that the family is Jewish. I believe it ended with the mother comforting the boy.

Ring any bells?

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**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-short-story/696279/2 "2014-08-23T12:03:24Z")

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> **[Down at the Dinghy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_at_the_Dinghy)**
>
> "Down at the Dinghy" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in Harper's in April 1949, and included in the compilation, Nine Stories.
> Written in the summer of 1948 at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the story marks a shift away from Salinger's literary misanthropy, which had largely been informed by his horrific combat experiences in Europe during World War II, and toward a “reaffirmation” of human interdependence and spiritual reawakening.
> The piece includes “Boo Boo” Glass Tannenba...

Salinger. Down at the Dinghy.

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**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-short-story/696279/3 "2014-08-23T16:56:34Z")

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Thank you, Baal.