A Perfect Day for Bananafish follows the events leading up to the eventual suicide of Seymour Glass. In the story, Seymour is described as a lost spirit who sees himself as being fundamentally different from his social environment following his wartime experience; he leaves the war “seeing-more” and as a result, awakens to find that he has lost touch with the material world. Salinger uses the story’s dialog as the medium for conveying Seymour’s struggle; he establishes the shallow nature of the environment Seymour is exposed to using the dialog between Muriel and her Mother while simultaneously giving clues about Seymour’s character from the perspectives of the two women in his life. Seymour’s character is built upon further in the second half of the story during the scene in which he converses with Sybil, and also when Seymour is in the elevator moments before he commits suicide. The subtle clues Salinger weaves into the dialog suggest that Seymour commits suicide to escape the dilemma of either conforming to the materialistic world and sacrificing his spirituality, or choosing not to conform and consequently live estranged from his own wife and the society in which he lives. The opening of the story serves to create the precedent that Muriel is shallow. The first passage describes how Muriel “uses” her two and a half hour waiting period before her mother’s call. She accomplishes multiple tasks such as painting her toenails, reading a women’s pocket-size magazine article, brushing her hair, and removing a stain from a skirt. Salinger describes Muriel as “a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing.” The references to Muriel as “a girl” are repeated throughout the story to signify her immaturity; her concern for trivial...
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...nd his own life. Many of these clues can be found in the story’s dialog. They suggest that Seymour’s suicide is the manifestation of an awakening gained through his war experience; he is separated from the shallow environment he lives in and can find no other escape. Perhaps Seymour commits suicide in an attempt to break through the barrier that separates him from Muriel and the rest of society. Or maybe Seymour’s mental faculties were damaged by his wartime experience, leaving him disturbed and unstable. The text can be read many ways; however, there is no single interpretation that captures the complexity of Salinger’s short story. While the clues that Salinger leaves throughout the story influence the reader’s perspective on Seymour Glass, ultimately the meaning and justification of Seymour’s suicide depends on the reader’s personal connection to the protagonist.
The first way J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him, is...
Do you ever wish you could return to the early time of your existence where the innocence and purity of childhood enveloped you on a day-to-day basis? These were the times when committing wrong doings were not only met with meager consequences, but also expected of you by the parental guardians or guides in your life. In "The Catcher in the Rye" , written by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, expresses his yearning for this feeling continuously throughout this detailed depiction of a struggling young man who craves nothing more than to make the dream he has given his entire being to, into a reality he can physically experience. A simpler way to help readers understand his complex idea is to compare his dream to the dreams of the fabled "Fountain of Youth" that countless stories are written about. Instead of the physical attributes that staying young would give an individual, the mental ideals of innocence and purity are the cause of Holden's tireless pursuit and inability to interact and function in every facet of society. The tragedies and socially awkward life that Salinger's character endures would be extremely damaging to most any human being's, already precariously balanced, mental health. The symptoms of popular health disorders such as bipolar disorder, anti-social disorder, and anxiety disorders are expressed prominently by Holden Caulfield throughout the entire novel.
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage rebel who is exploring the world on his own. The author, Salinger, uses many tools to deepen the impression on the reader such as linking the title to the story in an intricate way or creating a complex name for the protagonist. The symbols used in The Catcher in the Rye are there for a just reason, an example being how the author used the title, which is also a poem, as a symbol. Salinger uses the geographical locations, such as the Museum of Natural History, as symbols as well.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
Holden Caulfield, the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye, is a troubled man who does not have everything going right for him. He shows obvious signs of depression and a few symptoms of an anxiety disorder. Throughout the book he keeps thinking about his brother Allie, who passed away. The only reasonable explanation for his mental illnesses is that he misses Allie, and he does not know how to function normally again. Everything he does reminds him of Allie in some sort of way. Mental illness is very common in someone who is suffering from the loss of a love one, but it is in no way a normal act of a teenager.
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on himself.
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield gets expelled from his school and runs away before his parents find out. He goes to his home town, New York, and encounters many people. Throughout the novel, Caulfield is still coping with the death of his brother Allie. His attitude slowly decreases and various signs of a mental disorder are exhibited through his actions and his thoughts. Some people believe that he does not have a mental disorder, he is just grieving; however, he has clear symptoms that he is suffering from depression and anti-social disorder. These disorders are shown when Caulfield takes everything in a negative way, talks about being depressed, thinks that everyone is “phony”, and talks about his deceased brother.
Jerome David Salinger was an influential writer in the 1950’s. He reflected his own personal life in all his fictional stories and several of Salinger’s fictional characters appear to be alter egos at various stages of his life. The autobiographical fiction “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a reflection of Salinger’s own war experience and his marital infidelity. The story focuses on the main character Seymour Glass, who is a veteran of World War 2 and consequently a victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result of the traumatic event he had encountered, Seymour Glass grew feelings of detachment and estrangement from the society that surrounded him. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” J.D. Salinger ingeniously uses conflict, characterization, and motivation to reveal how victims who have suffered a traumatic event may be driven to a state of isolation.
The day that his brother died, the narrator “broke all the windows in the garage” and “slept in the garage”; even now, his “hand still hurts [him] once in a while...and [he] can’t make a real fist anymore” (Salinger, 39). Because he loved his brother so much, Holden was heartbroken by Allie’s death, and he ruined his hand out of grief. However, he does not care about the damage to himself and does not regret breaking it; to him, Allie’s death was a much greater loss than his marred hand. All of Holden’s revolt shows that he is unable to accept the fact that Allie has passed away, which is why he begins to have hallucinations of his brother reappearing. He confesses, “I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear...’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him” (Salinger, 198). Holden misses Allie, who has disappeared from the physical world after his death, so he fears dying and disappearing just as his brother did years ago. Therefore, he has developed a trauma, or a neurosis in psychoanalytic terms, from his brother’s death, which causes his hallucinations and irrational fears. Luckily, when the author tells this past occurrence, he realizes that his behavior was eccentric and odd; most likely, he later becomes
The narrative allows the reader to be exposed to Holden Caulfield’s mind to form a psychoanalytical perspective and emphasize how he goes through many experiences. An example of when Holden went through a violent outburst is when his brother, Allie passed away. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist just for the hell of it.” (Salinger 39). This citation is meaningful and clearly shows what kind of person Holden becomes. He was very close with his brother Allie and that mentally broke him. He had a very strong and sad mental breakdown in the moment that affected his futu...
Books that have shaped America are slowly starting to disappear. Many of the previous social norms have fallen out of fashion, and because of this reason numerous books are beginning to become banned. Blasphemy, racism, sex, and violence are all ethical reasons for books to be censored.
Salinger’s demonstration of use of physical falls leads to a metaphorical fall for Holden, his nervous breakdown that has him checked into a mental institution. Salinger’s demonstrations of these physical falls revolve around Holden’s role of the catcher in the rye, protecting children from losing their innocence and becoming phonies. This metaphorical fall for Holden was caused by the fact that he realized that growing up is necessary and we all end up falling. Holden realizes this through his role of the catcher in the rye, Mr. Antolini, Sally, and Phoebe. When transitioning into adulthood we all lose our innocence, therefore we become phonies.
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.
Suicide is a preventable, yet a very serious public health problem. In 2009, more deaths resulted from suicide than from car accidents in the United States. Citation here! In the past, suicide prevention has been more geared towards youths and adolescents. However, recent research has shown an increase in suicide of middle-aged adults and this increase places suicide at the fourth leading cause of death among this age group. Citation here Little is known about midlife suicides, so with that in mind, direct practice workers need an understanding in how to address the needs and concerns of the middle-age group, so that suicide can be prevented.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, suicide is the action of killing oneself intentionally. Causes of suicide can be out of despair. This can be a consequence of several stress factors such as financial difficulties, personal troubles...etc. Work suicide can be caused by the recession; this destroys a very large number of jobs, especially in the telecoms companies because they have a technological revolution. It can also be caused by bad working conditions and frequent unannounced changes in the work environment. Companies need to improve their productivity, which means that employees have to work harder and longer, this can also lead to being “stressed out”.