Tone in 'De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period'

I think that the author (Salinger) seemed to identify with Jean more that he criticized/mocked Jean. Throughout the book, Salinger appears to feel bad for what happened to Jean; this is because he does not make Jean seem foolish for the way he feels about some things, such as being alone and how he felt about Sister Irma. For example, on page 201, Salinger seems to sympathize with Jean. This is because Jean says, “I prayed for the city to be cleared of people, for the gift of being alone- a-l-o-n-e: which is the one New York prayer that rarely gets lost or delayed in channels, and in no time at all everything I touched turned to solid loneliness.” I thought that the way this was written showed that Salinger identified with Jean and may have at one point in time felt the same thing. The reason I think this is because we have learned about Salinger’s life and Salinger towards the end of his life always wanted to be alone. Salinger even separated himself from his family-thats how alone he was.wanted to be. 
Another place in the book where I felt that Salinger was identifying with Jean is on page 212. While Jean is on the train with M. Yoshoto, he writes/talks about how he is feeling and makes the statement “Either in spite, or because, of his silence, I talked incessantly, with my legs crossed, ankle on knee, and constantly using my sock as an absorber for the perspiration on my palm.” In this part of the story, this could have been a very easy way to make the tone of the story mocking/criticizing Jean, but it does not appear that way. Salinger just ‘says it how it is’ and doesn’t try to mock Jean. Being nervous is a common, natural thing, and happens to most people and that is the way Salinger seemed to write it; just as a detail to let you know Jean was nervous, just like everyone is at some point or another.

            Lastly, there is another quote from the story that shows how Salinger was identifying with Jean, not mocking/criticizing him. When Jean finds out that Sister Irma cannot study at Les Amis Des Vieux Maîtres, he is disheartened and says at dinner with the Yoshoto’s he wasn’t feeling well. He follows that up by saying to the reader “(I lied, in 1939, with far greater conviction than I told the truth-so I was positive that M. Yoshoto looked at me with suspicion when I said I wasn’t feeling well.)’’ During this point in the book, and especially with this quote, Salinger could have easily changed the tone so that he was criticizing Jean for his bad decisions. But,  instead, Salinger used this quote to express just how disappointed Jean was.