Echo and Narcissus (Waterhouse painting) mythology. In Ovid's version of the myth, Narcissus was the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. His parents were told that he would live to an old age if he did not look at himself. He rejected all the nymphs and women who fell in love with him. One of these was the nymph Echo, who was so upset by her rejection that she withdrew from life and wasted away until all that was left was a whisper. Her prayers were heard by the goddess Nemesis who caused Narcissus to fall in love with his own
For Esmé—with Love and Squalor of the war". Deeply moved, he immediately begins a recovery from his descent into disillusionment and spiritual vacancy, regaining his "faculties". As the war receded in memory, America was embracing an "unquestioned patriotism and increasing conformity", and a romantic version of the war was gradually replacing its devastating realities. Salinger wished to speak for those who still struggled to cope with the "inglorious" aspects of combat. "For Esmé—with Love and Squalor" was conceived as a tribute to those Second World War veterans who in post-war civilian life were still suffering from so-called "battle fatigue" – post-traumatic stress disorder. The story