J.D Salinger’s Franny and Zooey Essay

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?

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

All though it has taken a lot to build up the initial break down, the trigger was two books. “She got both books out of Seymour and Buddy’s old room” (101) The books over look a Pilgrim going on a spiritual journey, but it is not about the context of the books as to where she found them. “I want to talk to Seymour” (150) Franny says after her brother, Zooey offers to contact their brother Buddy. Through all of the religions in the pilgrim book it is about Franny missing her brother who she loves, and wanting to connect with him somehow through this

Miriam Toews’ novel, A Complicated Kindness, explores the aspects of one’s interpretation of faith, their reintegration into society and self-improvement. These elements are explored through Natasha Nickel’s formulation of her newfound faith, a step in which she soaks knowledge, questions what has been learned, and then incorporates the changes into her lifestyle. Through this critical thinking process, Tash becomes the most logical follower of faith in the community.

Attempting to define how Flaubert wanted the reader to view religion in his short story “A Simple Heart” is frustratingly beautiful. The title figure, Felicite has been variously interpreted by many regarding her representation of religion. Her unsophistication is not to be viewed as a hindrance as it allows her to share a saintly relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Sprit had been reduced to taxidermy as it is portrayed as Felicite’s pet parrot Loulou. Felicite’s quasi-satirical world of spirituality had been diminished to something so non-permanent it made the story difficult to evaluate seriously with regards to religion. However, upon reevaluating the role Loulou played in Felicite’s life and her hardships “A Simple Heart”

Throughout Franny and Zooey, Franny perceives humans to be inherently evil. As a result, she constantly feels frustrated with the egotism and self-centeredness of the world. One of Franny’s major

Franny is a brilliant lady well read in religious philosophy due the early education she got from her older brothers Buddy and Seymour. Franny disparages her college experience because spirituality is not valued and emphasized in any of the educational disciplines. She is also frustrated because she thinks that she is wasting her time acquiring knowledge that doesn't advance spiritual growth and wisdom. Franny's frustration is first seen at her first encounter with her boyfriend. Lane represents the people Franny despises at her college. Franny accuses Lane of being a "section man" because he bragged about a paper he got an A grade on . She describes a 'section man' as one of the graduate students in her English department who is very intelligent

In the novel Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger uses the Glass family to deliver his beliefs on religion and society during this time. One way in which he does this is by delivering the novel into two short stories. One deals with Franny, a young female who is at a crossroad with her beliefs, and the other deals with her brother Zooey who tries to help his sister through her difficulties. Once this book was published in 1961, it was an instant hit and made its way to the best-seller list. Over the years there were many critical essays written discussing Salinger’s intended purpose for this novel. In A Preface for “Franny and Zooey” John P. McIntyre explores whether Salinger’s main

In the novel ”Franny and Zooey”, by J.D. Salinger, Franny is Zooey’s younger sister, who seems to contradict herself quite a bit, eventually, she freaks out and has a nervous break down in a public restroom during a night out on the town. Franny’s hypocrisy affects everyone around her including herself. She continues to contradict herself throughout the book until she finally speaks to Zooey and he explains to her the jesus prayer and how she caused herself to have a nervous breakdown. In the beginning of the story, Franny was introduced through a letter she wrote to her boyfriend, Lane.

The different views between Seymour’s and Muriel’s acceptance of society is seen through Salinger’s use of dialogue and the character’s interactions. Materialism is the tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. Salinger provides characters with

Throughout the book, Franny and Zooey, Franny shows hypocrisy, by contradicting her beliefs and her actions. In many instances Franny shows hypocrisy such as, Her relationship with Lane and her uses and beliefs on The Jesus Prayer. She also despises ego, but this being she is still with Lane, which is a great example of ego. The use of The Jesus Prayer in her cases is for her personal benefit, which to a certain extent shows ego in her own part. Which loops back to Franny being a hypocrite in a certain way.

When Zooey goes to Seymour and Buddy’s room he reads the quotes on the bulletin board of favorite books. In this room there are many quotes from the spiritual classics the children thrived on. Books of literature and spirituality become a metaphor for the higher life of imagination and seeking that the children shared. Zooey claims that Franny did not get The Way of a Pilgrim from the library, but from Seymour’s desk. This makes Franny upset because these books containing a beautiful world that sustained her and her siblings at home are destroyed in college by academic analysis. The telephone on Buddy’s desk that belonged to

Buddy’s importance in telling the story is to give the reader a different perspective. To Franny and Zooey’s biased way of seeing Franny’s reasons in following the Jesus prayer. Based on a reliable outsider’s perspective, Franny thinks the Jesus prayer will help her keeping calm and will give her a piece of Seymour. However, Zooey thinks Franny is only using the Jesus prayer to not have to deal with her problems. Zooey also thinks that if Franny is using the Jesus prayer she should really learn to understand it and do it for herself.

In the novel, Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger, it is overwhelmed with many themes; the novel also reveals an important message on finding ones self and dealing with the difficulties and struggles of life; these themes consist of religion, egos, and culture. Franny Glass struggles with the phoniness and egotism that spreads through society. She longs to escape her problems and decides to get away from it by withdrawing into spirituality religious values through the Jesus Prayer. She soon realizes the down fall of her solution and through her pains and challenges; she learns how to deal with social unpleasantness. Franny learns that she needs to shed her egotism and act unselfishly. The novel also has many different symbols with

     J.D. Salinger could be considered one of the greatest, and most contrevertional authors of our time. We only know limited things about him and his work. He has been pushed off into the woods due to betrayal by his loved ones, and people close to him. Negative criticism of his work has also contributed to making him leave. Not to mention the biggest factor which made him want to be left alone, phoniness. These are the reasons that I believe why he wants to be left alone and not give interviews, this is also what fuels the press to keep chasing after J.D.