Characters in A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger
The characters in Salinger?s ?A Perfect Day for Bananafish? seem to exist in opposite worlds. On one hand, Salinger creates Muriel to represent materialism and superficiality and on the other hand, he creates Sybil to provide justification of the child-like innocence rarely found in society. Salinger?s main character, Seymour, is aware of the superficiality expressed in Muriel?s world and chooses not to be apart of it. Seymour wants to be a part of the simple immaterial world that Sybil represents. Nevertheless, Seymour find himself trapped between two worlds unable to regain the one he desires. Therefore, Salinger bases ?A Perfect Day for Bananafish? on Seymour?s disillusionment with life and his inability to regain a child-like perception of the world. Salinger?s portrayals Seymour and his world are described below.
Sybil is composed of all the characteristics Seymour is seeking. She is young, innocent and childlike and therefore not polluted by the materialism, mistrust and snobbery known to society. Furthermore, her actions suggest that she relates to Seymour because he seems to act like a child somewhat similar to herself (for example Sybil feels secure around Seymour but feels insecure when sitting with her own mother). This would imply that Seymour does not appear abnormal to her because she, unlike most, she has the ability to see through his exterior and is not intimidated by what she has found. In the later part of the story she continually repeats the phase ?see more glass?(10) using the term ?glass? to describe her own unique ability to see through the transparency of superficial people (much like her own mother).
What Seymour respects...
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...g that was originally molded to portray the image society would expect of a ?Lady? of her caliber. In turn, it does not seem to matter who Muriel is in Salingers?s story but what she represents.
In conclusion, Seymour is similar to the bananafish as he swam his way up the stream of life ingesting the materialism and superficiality that past him on his journey. Half way up the stream he stopped pondered why he had even bothered in the first place. Now he cannot go back down the stream (to Sybil) against the current and cannot bear to continue (with Muriel). At this point Seymour is described as having ?banana fever? or becoming so engulfed in materialism. His only rational option would be to stay in the banana hole and die.
Work Cited
Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish. United States: Little, Brown and Company Limited, 1991.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
After many years of ideas coming and going, one that seems to stay the same is the thoughts of tennagers. In the book The Catcher In The Rye written by J.D Salinger many can still relate to Holden’s story even after a 76 year difference. While exploring the city around him Holden takes the time to try to find himself on a deeper level and try to grasp how growing up really makes him feel. Given the fact that everyone is unique in among themselves the need for self satisfaction is always current meaning many run from the true responsibilities that come with age.
The first way J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him, is...
Innocence and Conflict: comparing J.D. Salinger’s A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell A True War Story
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1991. Print.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
This essay outlines how J.D. Salinger creates a unique person in Holden Caulfield as he strives to find his place in the world as he moves from childhood to adulthood.. Holden narrates this story from the first person in flashback recounting events that happened to him over a two day span the previous year around Christmas. He narrates this story from some sort of mental hospital or institution. This is a clue as to how this journey affected him. This essay discusses how Holden views himself as he is his growing up, affected by interaction with other characters and how he is affected by loss of innocence moving from childhood to adulthood.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
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
J.D. Salinger conveys The Catcher in the Rye’s meaning by combining three of the novel’s elements: Holden’s personality, resistance to having guidance in his life, and actions. Primarily, he uses Holden, The Catcher in the Rye’s protagonist, as an example of a teenager who has failed to develop during the essential period of youth. Additionally, he uses the characters of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini to act as voices of reason to Holden, while also showing Holden’s missed opportunities in life when he does not take their advice. Lastly, Salinger utilizes Holden’s desire to act both older and younger than his age to show the dangers that come with poor decision making, as well as their consequences. The main purpose of Salinger’s novel, The Catcher
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.
The world today is very deceptive and phony. J.D. Salinger’s well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey attack this fake and superficial society which is evident through the lives, ideas, actions, and words expressed by the characters in these literary pieces. The transition from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood is inevitable. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield goes through this stage and finds himself in a crisis. He alienates himself from everyone who is around him and tries his best not to grow up. Holden often dwells upon his childhood and the life he had with his family. Franny in Franny and Zooey has already passed this stage but finds it difficult to live in a world where everyone she is surrounded by is only concerned with outward appearances. In these worlds, both characters, Holden and Franny, reveal their struggle of growing up and trying to live as an adult in a world full of deception and shallow-minded people who only care about appearances.
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. 19 Mar. 2014.
...t stuck in the hole. People, like Seymour, create illusions and imaginary images to relieve themselves of emotional strain and suffering. It seems the life of the bananafish before they swim into the hole symbolizes Seymour’s life before the war; and once in the hole, his life after the war. Seymour then explains that all of the bananafish will die: “Well, they get banana fever. It’s a terrible disease’” (Salinger 323). The bananafish is Seymour and the terrible disease that he has is metaphorical to the war when he loses his youth and innocence. William Wiegand attempts to ‘solve’ the riddle of Seymour’s death when he argues that Seymour is ‘a bananafish himself’ who has ‘become so glutted with sensation that he cannot swim into society again’” (Lane). “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” refers Seymour’s idea about his day, his internal disease, and his ultimate death.