The Hang of It by J. D. Salinger. Short summary

5 seconds

The narrator compares his son Harry to a fellow soldier, Bobby Pettit. He was impenetrably stupid, and when pointed out his mistakes, he replied, «I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you.

1 minute

The narrator says that when his son Harry was drafted into the army, another Bobby Pettit was added to the army. He tells of this character.

When the narrator was young and a draftee himself, he served in the same unit as this Bobby. The guy was so dumb he couldn’t tell his right shoulder from his left. Everything fell out of his hands, he couldn’t even put his duffel bag together.

But the narrator’s wife thought her Harry had fallen into the hands of the toughest staff sergeant in the United States. The poor boy tries, and everyone makes mistakes. And the colonel, instead of helping the boys, just walks around and watches.

At the review, the narrator notices that of the whole company, only Harry steps out of step. When the command was given, «Shoulder arms!» Harry dropped his machine gun. After the review, Harry’s parents were approached by a senior sergeant. The narrator asked if Harry had a future. «Absolutely not, Colonel,» he replied.