A Perfect Day For Bananafish Literary Analysis

In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” numbers symbolize Seymour’s evolving views on the innocence of children. Throughout the story, Seymour feels accepted by children because they seem innocent compared to corrupt, materialistic adults. He and his wife Muriel share room 507 in a hotel where she worries about her appearance and gossips with her mother, while Seymour is on the beach. Muriel discloses on the phone that Seymour never removes his bathrobe. He does, however, remove the robe in front of Sybil, a child, because he feels comfortable around her (9-13). The missing integer in 507 represents Muriel’s lack of innocence and significant values and Seymour’s missing materialism that separates him from adult society. Muriel is shallow and materialistic;

she spends her time gossiping, painting her nails, and complaining about clothes. Seymour, on the other hand, does not have these shallow values, so he prefers innocent children that are seemingly innocent and has no place in adult society.
Later, Seymour realizes that children are, in fact, no different from adults and that he cannot be accepted in either world. After Sybil says she sees a bananafish with six bananas in its mouth, she rejects Seymour as he kisses her foot. Seymour realizes that he has no place in young society either and that children are doomed to become the same adults he despises. This epiphany leads him to his suicide; he “let himself into 507,” and “took out an Ortgies calibre 7.65 automatic” (18). Here, the missing integer in 507 represents not only the society of both children and adults combined that he is dreadfully detached from, but also the truth of children’s similarities with adults that has been missing in his insights. Furthermore, 507 is now reversed with the completing number six in the 7.65 calibre of the gun. Six appears when Sybil spots a bananafish and rejects Seymour; the number represents the insight that led to his epiphany, and the reversed order emphasizes Seymour’s reversed views on the innocence of children.