Conformity In J. D. Salinger's Franny And Zooey

Societies vary depending on region and culture, but. But all societies have the characteristics of strict conformity, intolerance for the unique, as well as perfect functionality. The society shown in Harrison Bergeron is as follows: “Everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General” (Last name 1). This is the dream of society: perfect conformity and functionality. “Everybody was finally equal” (1) shows that society had finally achieved its goal of conformity.

It is the consensus of most critics that Seymour Glass is the most important character and the leader of the Glass family. This is a point that is obvious from the stories that Salinger has written about the Glass family. Seymour is looked up to and revered by all the children in the family and is his mothers “favorite, most intricately calibrated, her kindest son”(Franny 89). When catastrophe strikes in Franny and Zooey, the only person Franny wants to talk to is Seymour. Why is Seymour the most important person in the Glass family?

One of the challenges of growing up is loneliness. As a small child living in Brooklyn Francie had no friends her age, the kids in her neighborhood that would have been candidates for friends either found her too quiet or shunned her for being different. "So

The novella, “Zooey,” begins with the youngest male of the Glass family reading a letter that was written to him by Buddy, his elder brother. Buddy tells Zooey of a chance encounter that he had with a little girl at the butcher shop. In his conversation with the girl, Buddy discovers she has two boyfriends. He asks her for their names, to which she replies, “Bobby and Dorothy” (64). Her reply is what motivates Buddy to write his letter to Zooey. He reminds his younger brother, “that all legitimate religious study must lead to unlearning the differences, the illusory differences, between boys and girls, animals and stones, day and night, heat and cold” (67-68). In Buddy’s eyes, the little girl’s reply represents this ideology. She doesn’t recognize that there is a difference between Bobby and Dorothy; she just knows that they are her “boyfriends.” The butcher shop anecdote is

Raised by their older brothers, Seymour and Buddy, Franny and Zooey have been taught spiritual before educational. Zooey says, “ I can’t even sit down to a goddamn meal, to this day, without first saying the Four Great Vows under my breath,” (104) referring to Buddhism, Seymour’s prefered religion. Since they were young Franny and Zooey were taught many religions before educational facts.. While the Glass family members focus on this, Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger is a love story.

It’s the homeless people, who've got nothing to lose…’” (147,149). The politics of the working class are also in opposition to the bourgeois who are devoted to the government of the Second Empire. As Lisa keeps consuming food, she increases her status and reputation as one of the virtuous, honest citizens responsible for keeping an eye on Florent and others who are thin and suspicious. As a result of having money, she has power, influence, and is respected by others. Her power and influence gives her status and reputation in the Les Halles market community. Through the description of the market politics and society, Zola portrays Lisa as someone who everyone strives to be, except for some of the Thin people. The Thin believe the Fat are corrupted and are taking more than their share of the wealth and power. Lisa is one part of the political power dynamic, the other side is Florent - a juxtaposition of the Fat and Thin.

Mr. Parsons exemplifies pride and a sense of consideration for others. Mr. Parsons is a well dressed man who is succeeding in life as an insurance agent because of his positive outlook. His inability to see never gets in the way of him being “...successful, respected, [and] admired…” (149). Mr. Parsons buys a cigarette lighter from Markwardt. He does not smoke ,but he figures he “can give it to someone” (149).

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In J.D Salinger’s Franny and Zooey, the theme of pride is heavily explored and is essential to the personality and development of the main characters. This is done through recounting the experiences of members of the Glass family, a household of intellectuals who never seem to be satisfied with their present state of being. A former star on the radio show “It’s a Wise Child”, the eldest sibling, Seymour, who committed suicide later in his lifetime, felt it his duty to act as a religious guide to his younger siblings and instills in them the values of Buddhism- a factor which later contributed to much dissatisfaction amongst his younger brother and sister. Moreover, Salinger stresses the excessive pride of Franny, who views her contemporaries as inferior, and the resultant detriment of such a temperament. Zooey’s egotistic nature is likewise explored, along with the negative impact of his disillusionment with his education and those around him.

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Zooey considered Lane as a symbol of phoniness and egotism in intellectual prowess and academics; which could be one of the reason of Franny's breakdown. Zooey is saying that Lane is fake while arguing with his mom, Bessie. Lane does not truly love Franny. He is fairly insensitive with Franny's religious breakdown, and always prefers to talk about himself, revealing his own selfishness.

In the chapter Zooey, in the book Franny and Zooey, Zooey seems to re-read a letter he received from his older brother buddy 4 years prior. Zooey probably keeps re-reading because it contains information pertaining to questions Zooey has had for a long time and things he might not understand yet. The letter also contains information about Seymour which is the glasses oldest brother that committed suicide. This letter also comes into play throughout the book and at the end of the book when Zooey is talking to Franny over the phone trying to give her some clarity and help her in her life and mental breakdown and things she's dealing with at the time. In the letter Buddy also seems to want to give Zooey advise in regards to his future in

In the novel “Eat Pray Love”  Gilbert begins to function gender identity as she inhabits the space of New York. Elizabeth Gilbert indirectly speaks into existence the argument that society’s constructed gender norms limit women by stating how she is negatively feeling. Gilbert states that “Wasn’t I proud of all we’d accumulated … I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life so why did  I feel like none of it resembled me?.” (11) Through this statement by Gilbert shows how gender identity is being functioned as she gives her sense of a woman away by listing

Essentially Franny comes to terms with the fact that she should put all her effort into doing good because everyone, even the people she doesn’t like, are reincarnations of Jesus. When speaking with Zooey about her interpretation of the fat lady Franny describes her with “very thick legs, very veiny… in an awful wicker chair. She had cancer, too, though, and she had the radio going full-blast all day” (Salinger, 199). By the end of her conversation with Zooey Franny realizes that they don’t