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

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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. When she is first introduce, Franny, one of the titular characters, faces …show more content…

Also like Franny, he feels badly about himself for doing so. Zooey, moreover, averts any blame as to why he turned out the way he did onto his brothers and the education he received from them. His abhorrence of his brothers manifests itself to such an extent that, says Zooey, he “could murder them both without even batting an eyelash.” Zooey complains that his preachness and borderdom- a result of the way in which he was raised by his brothers- prevents him from even sitting down and maintaining a conversation with others. Likewise, he is discontent with the fact that he was a celebrity as a child- an additional factor on which he blames his persona. As is evident from his conversation with his mother, the impact of being “Wise Children” prevented him from conversing with others and, by extension, interacting properly in

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