In today?s day and age, mankind is faced daily with challenges that at first consideration may seem impossible, or even ridiculous. If an extraterrestrial life form were to gaze upon out planet and observe our cultures, there?s no doubt that what they see would shock them. Earth is populated by all kinds of people; brown, black, white, short, tall, fat, and skinny; but one thing that will always be true is that each and every one of these inhabitants is unique in their own way. These differences often create conflicts among different groups of people, and wars usually escalate from what would simply be a minor disagreement. War, then in turn, takes its toll on the people involved, severely traumatizing the individuals who fight for their respective nations. This is the case in the short story ?A Perfect Day for Bananafish,? by J.D. Salinger. War has changed a man, and pushed him to realize just what life is about.
Seymour Glass, the protagonist of the story, is a soldier who was discharged from the army after serving in war. He was released from a military hospital, which he was in for an undisclosed reason, and returns home to marry his long-time girlfriend, Muriel. The story takes place over a span of a couple hours while the recently wed couple is vacationing in Florida. Muriel opens the tale with a phone call to her mother in New York, where it is quickly established that Seymour could be mentally unstable, as Muriel?s mother firmly believes. She states that ?He (a doctor the family knows) very definitely told your father there?s a chance?a very great chance, he said?that Seymour may completely lose control of himself? (Salinger 6). Muriel?s mother and father are worried for their daughter and repeatedly ask...
There's more in Banana Fish
I think that this essay on Salinger's short story, A Great Day for Banana Fish, has some good description and summary of the story and is very useful on that level.But I think that some of the moral analysis of Seymour's character need a little more thought. For example, I've always felt that Seymour actually really admires Sybil Carpenter and gets some pleasure out of their interaction. It is common in Salinger's stories that Children are benevolent forces.
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