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As Irving Howe once observed, “The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable.” In a dynamic society, innocence evades even the youngest members of our world; it evades even the nonexistent members of our world. J.D. Salinger explores this elusive innocence in his short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Distinct similarities appear between the main character, Seymour Glass, and Salinger including the World War II experience and attraction for younger, more innocent people (Salerno). Salinger conveys this through Seymour’s preference of a young girl’s company over his own wife's company. Throughout the story, “Salinger constantly draws attention to himself and his precocious intellect” (Daniel Moran). “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” revolves around an army veteran post-World War II who visits a beach resort with his wife but spends more time there with the young Sybil Carpenter. Using a historical context of World War II and portrayal of many different characters, Salinger effectively depicts the story of a man in a desperate search for innocence. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism and figurative language to stress the concept of unattainable innocence.
The symbolism in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” allowed Salinger to communicate his main theme. One of the most prominent symbols, the colour blue, implies both innocence and depression. In the story, the constant appearance of blue supports Seymour Glass’s search for innocence. For example, Seymour remarks, “That’s a fine blue bathing suit you have on. If there’s one thing I like, it’s a blue bathing suit" (Salinger). However, Sybil’s bathing suit is yellow, and she proceeds to correct him. This seemingly impossible mist...
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Moran, Daniel. “Critical Essay on ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Salerno, Shane, dir. Salinger. American Masters. PBS, 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
Salinger, J. D. A Perfect Day for Bananafish. 1948. Nine Stories. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. American Heritage School. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. .
Wallace, Carey. “Critical Essay on ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002.
Wallace, Daniel. Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions. North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Roemer, Danielle M. "The Personal Narrative and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye". Western Folklore 51 (1992): 5-10.
We might remember Jerome David Salinger as a man no one really knew. However, we may very well know more about him than we realize. To understand Salinger, we must not search, or invade the privacy he once so treasured, but take what’s right in front of us, and add it up. Looking back at Salinger’s past, we find many answers; but, what is the question? Well, there’s a question I’m here to answer, and that is: What in JD’s life led to how he wrote, what he wrote, and why he was oh-so-reclusive?
Svogun, Margaret Dumais. "Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye.'(J. D. Salinger)(Critical Essay)." The Explicator 61.2 (2003): 110+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA99398780&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=21e26203d77b9530af065ba8dad12663
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.
"J. D. Salinger." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSIC&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CK1631005792&asid=9d7e04ba37c8259de38b906c482330b4. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
Born on January 1, 1919, Jerome David Salinger was to become one of America’s greatest contemporary authors. In 1938 Salinger briefly attended Ursinus College in Pennsylvania where he wrote a column, "Skipped Diploma," which featured movie reviews for his college newspaper. Salinger made his writing debut when he published his first short story, "The Young Folks," in Whit Burnett’s Story magazine (French, xiii). He was paid only twenty-five dollars. In 1939, at the age of 20, Salinger had not acquired any readers. He later enrolled in a creative writing class at Columbia University. Salinger was very much interested in becoming an actor and a playwright, which was quite odd because he would later in life become a recluse (Wenke, 3). Salinger adjusted his writing style to fit the literary marketplace. He was writing for money and began writing for magazines like Good Housekeeping and Mademoiselle. Many of Salinger’s characters have unique character traits. "Salinger presents a number of stories that consider characters who become involved in degrading, often phony social contexts," states a major critic (Wenke, 7). These characters are often young and have experienced a lot of emotional turmoil. They have been rejected by society and mainly categorized as "misfits." This alienation of the personality is often viewed as a sign of weakness by society when in fact the outcasts ultimately gain strength from their experiences as shown in Nine Stories, The Catcher in the Rye, and Franny and Zooey. Salinger is telling a tale of the human condition in its reality through his novels. Nine Stories is a collection of short stories of people who are uncertain of the next path to take in life. They are lonely, needy, and searching for love. One of these stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," is the story of a young couple who try to understand their life together and the true meaning of love. Seymour Glass has just been released from the Army Hospital and he is unable to adjust to life with his "crass wife Muriel amidst the lavish and vulgar atmosphere of their post-war second honeymoon" (Gwynn & Blotner, 19). It has often been called "the loveless tunnel of love." Salinger portrays Muriel in the first part of the story as superficial. ...
He cleverly disguises his suicide farewell in the story. Seymour claims that BananaFish are fish that eat bananas in a hole, in which they get stuck in, and eventually die. He states that this is a deadly disease known as Banana Fever. Seymour Glass is a BananaFish as the story can be interpreted as war and the loss of innocence. Soldiers go into the war and kill and kill and kill, and they cannot get their mind off of the acts that they committed and eventually die; mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The soldiers are the BananaFish, the war is the hole that they cannot get out of, the bananas are experiences that weigh a soldier down, and Banana Fever is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He explained to a child in a metaphor of what he went through and is continuing to go through. Seymour Glass’s thinking is that all BananaFish are doomed to death, just as all soldiers are doomed to go crazy. But, when he says, “This is a perfect day for BananaFish,” (Salinger 8) he is saying that it is the perfect day to die. And that is exactly what happens, as he kills himself later that
Charters, A. (2011). The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (8th ed.). Boston: Bedfor/St. Martin's.
A fish is a creature that preceded the creation of man on this planet. Therefore, Bishop supplies the reader with a subject that is essentially constant and eternal, like life itself. In further examination of this idea the narrator is, in relation to the fish, very young, which helps introduce the theme of deceptive appearances in conjunction with age by building off the notion that youth is ignorant and quick to judge. Bishop's initial description of the fish is meant to further develop this theme by presenting the reader with a fish that is "battered," "venerable," and "homely." Bishop compares the fish to "ancient wallpaper.
Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Revised ed. Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. 7 vols.