Perfect Day For Bananafish

Muriel, Seymour’s wife, and her parents, are representing the kind of America the soldiers in World War II return to. They are unaware of what exactly has taken place and what kinds of unexplainable cruelties these soldiers have experienced. On top of that, Muriel and her mother seem very self-centered and extremely shallow, which doesn’t make it any better for Seymour to return to, even though they seem to show great concern for him and his kind of behavior. For example, we are being told about Muriel that “she was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing. She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty.”

J.D. Salinger has written multiple novels, but his most famous is The Catcher in the Rye. Not only is this novel famous for its literary merit, it is also known as his most banned novel in certain schools. Even though this novel has been banned, J.D. Salinger’s themes and moralistic purposes serve literary worth.

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” By J.D. Salinger is a short story with intense imagery, detail, and symbolism. The story starts and ends with imagery, while also being used heavily throughout the text. The story takes place late 1940’s / early 1950’s and starts with the narrator explaining Mrs. Glass waiting on the phone line to talk to her mom. Mrs. Glass is Seymour’s Wife and Seymour is the main character. The story begins with, “There were ninety-seven New York advertising men in a hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the long-distance lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost two-thirty to get her call through” (Salinger 1). This first sentence really starts off the story and makes the reader think. When reading the section about the men with the telephone lines and the young lady sitting in her room waiting with her phone. It creates an image in

The “Catcher and the Rye” has been called one of the greatest works of American literature. J.D. Salinger certainly wrote a masterpiece that has brought much controversy and criticism. If the reader does not see and understand the intense symbolism and explicit writing, the reader will misunderstand Salinger’s work. Holden is lonely and afraid. After a lot of trouble and terrible experiences he is alone and realizes the world really does not care about him. The “Catcher and the Rye” is a powerful and moving book whose theme is still strong in American Culture today. Capturing and understanding the teen voice remains to be a struggle in the American Family of today.

It is a widespread belief that much of Holden Caulfield's candid outlook on life reflects issues relevant to the youth of today (Davis 317-18). Before his novel, J.D. Salinger was of basic non-literary status, having written for years without notice from critics or the general public. The Catcher in the Rye was his first step onto the literary playing field. This initial status left Salinger, as a serious writer, almost unique as a sort of free agent, not bound to one or more schools of critics, like many of his contemporaries were. This ability to write freely, his status as a nobody in the literary world, was Salinger's greatest asset. Rather than to scope inside Salinger's mind and create a greatness for him, we are content instead to note him for what he is: "a beautifully deft, professional performer who gives us a chance to catch quick, half-amused, half-frightened glimpses of ourselves and our contemporaries, as he confronts us with his brilliant mirror images" (Stevenson 217).

Teenagers across time periods and across the world are presented with relatively the same obstacles. Author J.D. Salinger attempts to capture these obstacles in his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The narrator, Holden, retells the story of a few days from when he was sixteen years old. He faces virtually the same problems as any teenager does, the struggle to fit in, find friends, and family issues, but with a twist. J.D. Salinger's purpose for writing The Catcher in the Rye is to illustrate the difference between the adult and teenage brains as well as the importance of an extended adolescence.

On January 1, 1919, Jerome David Salinger—the author of the iconic novel, The Catcher in the Rye—was born in Manhattan, New York. After receiving national attention for his masterpiece, Salinger became somewhat of a hermit and led a reclusive life. For a reserved individual, such as J.D. Salinger, what more suitable way is there to illustrate his own life experiences than a tale of a teenager who entices the reader through his unique view of the world? Without a doubt, there are multiple parallels that can be drawn between the lives of Holden and the author himself.

The 1940’s were a significant period in American history. By 1939, The Great Depression was coming to an end and there were new changes being made in society. In entertainment, for the first time there were color motion pictures, and singers like Frank Sinatra were influencing and bringing together a younger audience. There was a sense of positivity that was coming back to America. All of that changed on December 7th 1941. Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor crippling the Pacific fleet and sending the United States into World War II. Fueled by the attack, many young men enlisted to join the U.S. Military. There was a sense of pride and dedication in many of those men. They felt it was their obligation and duty to serve their country, and to some extent, bring justice. They found out that war is hell. Many soldiers came back from World War II as completely different people. The carnage, conditions on the battlefields, and the emotional drains of war were elements these men had to carry with them. How were they able to cope with these psychological changes once they got back home to their families? In J.D. Salinger’s short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” we get a glimpse into one

Muriel noticed her daughter Barbara, heading out toward the sound of the sirens, and she tried to catch up with her to tell her not to go. She could not handle the thought of losing her daughter. She had already lost her husband, and she knew she couldn’t take any more pain. Yet she watched as Barbara continued towards

In Salinger’s work, the two estates—the world and the cutely sensitive young – never really touch at all...Zooey and Franny and Buddy (like Seymour before them) know that the great mass of prosperous spirituals savages in our society will never understand them”(McIntyre 2). What is seems McIntyre is trying to say is that these characters’ ideas about religion and society don’t mix at all. They are two totally different entitles, and if they were to mix, then it would ruin the whole purpose of the novel itself. If these two did mix then the lessons learned through the novel would be lost. Franny along with the reader learn that it’s important to honor others even if they are hard to deal with for example like the feelings that Franny has towards her college professors. Also that this separations shows that the story is about love just as much as religion and spirituality.

”While her sister Josephine was breaking the news to her there was such depression in the room. It almost felt like as if Mrs.Mallard soul was gone. As the days goes by you could tell it was something wrong with Mrs.Mallard.

Muriel sits in the “made-up twin beds” and does not wear what can be interpreted as her marriage ring. It is quite peculiar for a married couple to choose not to share their beds, let alone book a hotel room with two separate beds in the first place. It shows that Seymour and Muriel have disconnected, which is furthered by the fact that she is not wearing her marriage ring, suggesting that she is no longer committed to him. Another symbolistic phase in the passage is when “[Muriel] looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty”. The ringing phone is a symbolic representation of moments when Seymour displayed instability of his mental.

Salinger Later Published a story in 1948 titled “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” which started Salinger’s Career. In 1951 Salinger’s soon to be biggest seller The Catcher in the Rye was released. The major success of the novel had landed itself a spot on New York Times bestseller list for 3o weeks. “The success of The Catcher in the Rye did not persuade Salinger to publish another novel.” (Biography).The Catcher in the Rye actually received a massive amount of backlash from the public. It was actually the most banned book in the U.S., most people didn’t like it because it contained an enormous amount of profanity and accused of a communistic plot. Salinger later resided in Corning, New Hampshire where he lived the rest of his days living in the shadows. Salinger was a very anti-social person, Salinger had said “I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody” (Brainyquote). Salinger had even began to search for a deeper meaning in his life as became an avid follower of Buddhism and later a practitioner of zen yoga and Hinduism. Salinger had married several times with women much younger than him each ending in a disaster as he often mistreated

J.D. Salinger (Jerome Davis Salinger) was said by some people to be one of the best American Authors of past century. Salinger’s works reflects the many experiences he had as a child. One of the more common focuses tends to be his fascination with protecting the innocence in children.

Despite the debate that may wage on regarding the status to be afforded J. D. Salinger's writings, the author's books have not quietly faded into obscurity. Although published almost a half-century ago, the author's most famous work, Catcher in the Rye, enjoys almost as healthy and devoted a following today as the book did when it was first published. Because of a self-imposed exile that began almost at the same time the Salinger's career was just taking off, much of the substance of the writer's life—his thoughts, ideals, writing objectives—remain shrouded in mystery. The few writings Salinger did offer up for public consumption, though, provide his audience cryptic clues into his inner most thoughts and