In JD Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, Franny Glass undergoes a mental and physical collapse, followed by a spiritual crisis. Every one of the Glass children is considerably precocious and deep thinking, and Franny and Zooey are no exception. With her fluctuating self-worth and perception, Franny begins to break down without any conscious awareness of why, which ultimately leaves her curled up on her mother’s couch in a state of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual crisis. This is why there is a need for urgent and vigorous “therapy” for Franny, and Zooey, having shared the elder Glass’ spiritual instruction, is the only character capable of providing any support for Franny. One inconsistency between the originally two different stories, Franny, …show more content…
This is a dependency that Zooey doesn’t seem to be used to, most likely because it was originally a reliance on Seymour. In all reality, Franny needs someone to take the role of Seymour and push his teachings on to her. Seymour was a heroic figure to Franny, and she took all of his teachings almost religiously, as she saw him as god-like. Without the guidance Seymour had provided Franny as a child, she lost her direction and began her mental collapse. This crisis didn’t come directly after Seymour’s suicide, but only occurred when she began to question her purpose and meaning in life. She becomes emotionally distraught and begins taking it out on other people. Everyone Franny interacts with can see that something is wrong with her, though they can’t tell if it is mental or physical. During lunch with her boyfriend, Lane mentions “I’m worried about you. I’m serious. What the hell’s happened to you in the last couple of weeks?” (27). While Zooey is not the only one who sees the change in character, he is the only one who can understand it, therefore the only one who can help. Though he is confronted with a sensitive matter, he knows he is the only one who can “fix” …show more content…
Zooey Glass is the only member of the Glass family to be completely at peace with the loss of their oldest brother, Seymour. As Buddy phrases it in his letter to Zooey, “[Waker] said you were the only one who was bitter about S.’s suicide and the only one who really forgave him” (68). Bessie and Franny both have not moved on, consequently aggravating Zooey. Zooey puts his own feelings aside to help Franny, showing how much love he has for her, considering he has no interest in trying to help his mother. Zooey knows that Franny needs as much love and support as she can get, though she constantly pushes people away, including him. Franny has not come to grasp the reality of Seymour’s death and moved on, therefore Zooey becomes as selfless as he can to provide Franny with the closure she so desperately
Franny held many strong beliefs that caused her to view her surroundings pessimistically. After spending three years contently in college, Franny changed her view of the college experience. She decided that college was “one more dopey inane place in the world.'; (Salinger, 146) She failed to see college as a place that allows one to increase his or her knowledge and independence. Similarly, she thought “that just because [she] wanted enlightenment or peace instead of prestige or fame-doesn’t mean that [she was] not as egotistical and self seeking as everybody else.';(Salinger, 149) Instead of looking for the positive qualities in others, she made a generalization that all people are egotistical and self-seeking. Additionally, she “raved and bitched about the stupidity of [her] audiences [and their] unskilled laughter.';(Salinger, 199) Despite the fact that the audiences were supporting Franny by watching her perform, she insists all audiences are stupid. Franny’s religious quest caused her to view her surroundings pessimistically.
Although they are the protagonists from two separate books, Franny Glass, a teenage girl in J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, and Holden Caufield, a young man in Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, serve as foils to each other. Both suffer unnecessarily due to their interaction with those whom they are close to, due to their relationships with themselves, as well as due to their views on the world. In the end, however Franny and Holden change their values and therefore are able to begin the healing process.
The Glass Menagerie is a play about the character Tom trying to escape his living situation that traps him. He is doing to best to cope with his dependent, demanding mother Amanda and take care of his quiet sister Laura. Amanda and Laura solely depend on Tom’s income from his warehouse job, but Tom is desperately wanting to leave both his mother and sister to lead his own adventurous life. Laura is mainly embodied by her precious glass menagerie and Jim O’Connor’s nickname for her, “Blue Roses.” Her livelihood revolves around taking care of her glass animals and protecting them, and in doing so, she isolates herself from the normal world around her. In Tennessee William’s play The Glass Menagerie, symbolism is use to uncover the unearthly beauty and delicacy of Laura and to portray Tom’s need to escape from his oppressive responsibilities.
In many novels written by J.D. Salinger, there is a recurring theme of love that
Laura is the owner and caretaker of the glass menagerie. In her own little fantasy world, playing with the glass animals is how she escapes from the real world in order to get away from the realities and hardships she endures. Though she is crippled only to a very slight degree physically, her mind is very disabled on an emotional level. Over time, she has become very fragile, much like the glass, which shatters easily, as one of the animals lost its horn; she can lose control of herself. Laura is very weak and open to attack, unable to defend herself from the truths of life. The glass menagerie is an unmistakable metaphor in representing Laura’s physical and mental states.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
To start off, Nick Carraway is responsible for the death of Gatsby. During the harmonious relationship with Jordan Baker, Nick displays tolerance of Jordan Baker’s dishonest behavior and considers her dishonesty as incurable. Nick expresses his thought to Jordan by saying, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply ” (58). However, Nick’s forbearance of woman’s dishonesty develops, and his tolerance of dishonesty reaches an apex. Nick soon covers and hides the origin truth of Myrtle Wilson’s death, and he lets Gatsby assume the responsibility of Myrtle’s death. The next day, Nick sees the abandoned corpse of Jay Gatsby at his pool. After the death of Jay, Nick hides the secret of Myrtle’s death from Tom, but displays his disappointment toward Tom. If Nick had told anyone that Daisy was driving the car, George would not have shot Gatsby. Nick Carraway’s wrong decision that was not to tell anyone Daisy ran over Myrtle has led the Gatsby’s death. Moreover, Carraway’s wide tolerance has not prevented the death, but caused it. He is respo...
Zooey believes that it is them who have made him and Franny what they are
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
Tennessee Williams’ play, “The Glass Menagerie”, depicts the life of an odd yet intriguing character: Laura. Because she is affected by a slight disability in her leg, she lacks the confidence as well as the desire to socialize with people outside her family. Refusing to be constrained to reality, she often escapes to her own world, which consists of her records and collection of glass animals. This glass menagerie holds a great deal of significance throughout the play (as the title implies) and is representative of several different aspects of Laura’s personality. Because the glass menagerie symbolizes more than one feature, its imagery can be considered both consistent and fluctuating.
After reading J.D. Salinger's famous short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," I have found many similarities between the story and his other novel "The Catcher in the Rye." The first similarities I noticed were the settings. In The Catcher in The Rye, the main setting is New York. Holden Caulfield, the main character, wanders New York after getting kicked out of school. He takes taxis around the city, tries to buy alcoholic beverages, and rents multiple hotel rooms for the night. In the short story, the setting is not New York. However, Salinger does reference New York in the beginning of the story... "I have your call to New York now, Mrs. Glass," the operator said (Salinger 4). Although this is a minor detail of the story, I believe
In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams presents us with four characters whose lives seem to consist in avoiding reality more than facing it. Amanda lives her life through her children and clings to her lost youthfulness. Tom retreats into movie theaters and into his dream of joining the merchant seamen and some day becoming a published poet. Laura resorts to her Victrola and collection of glass ornaments to help sustain her world of fantasy. Finally, Jim is only able to find some relief in his glorified old memories. This essay will examine how Amanda, Tom, Laura and Jim attempt to escape from the real world through their dreams.
In Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, each character attempts to escape the real world by creating their own “reality”. Laura hides from the world by magnifying her illness. Tom convinces himself that his needs supersede the needs of his family. Amanda focuses almost exclusively on the past - when she saw herself as a desirable southern belle. Even Jim focus his hopes on recapturing his good old high school days. Each character transposes their difficult situations into shadows of the truth.
The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, is a prime example of a classic drama, infusing powerful themes with compelling characters to draw the reader in and allow them to connect. William’s character Laura plays a large part in accomplishing this, particularly in Scene VII, when she converses with Jim. This scene is especially important to the story as a whole, and helps develop Laura’s character and the theme of conformity. This theme, that to be accepted by society one must conform, is prevalent throughout the story, but centers around this portion of the play specifically. The conversation between Laura and Jim is a pivotal part of the drama that is very impactive and provides substance for the theme and character development in the rest of the drama.
During this conversation they discussed issues such as life and dreams. At first Lenny refused to open-up. " ¡¥George says I ain¡¦t to have nothing to do with you-talk to you or nothing.¡¦ " He was very reluctant to talk to her or share anything with her. She was the complete opposite. Curley¡¦s wife was looking for someone to talk to.