A Perfect Day For Bananafish Comparison Essay

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Recommended: Creative writing about war

After reading "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esme--with Love and Squalor", I found the two short stories to be similar, with only a few small differences. For example, the themes are very much alike due to the war and how it affects the people in each character's lives which shows to be the main conflict in both of the following stories. In Bananafish, Seymour the main character, is suffering from PTSD after being involved in the war, which similar to Sergeant X, who is the narrator in For Esme. Although they share the idea of mental suffering post war, the end results of the character's in both stories are different. Seymour doesn't handle his situation well, he has to much to deal with mentally, resulting in his death. But Sergeant X happens to show signs of a hopeful and even a miraculous recovery. …show more content…

Sergeant X on the other hand is somewhat good spirited and taken out from his depression after receiving Esme's letter. Another thing is that Bananafish only shows the effects of the war on people who have not only witnessed it but also lived it. For Esme it also brings up the effects of the war but shows what has happened to the children who've lost their parents during it. With Esme's parents death due to the war, Esme is forced to grow up and really take on the parenting role for Charles her younger brother. Another theme that was really took over a large role in the stories is innocence and youth. This is shown through the children who are Sybil, and then Esme, and Charles. Both characters, Seymour and Sargent X, are touched by the innocence of each child. They both spend time with each child, gaining something from them, and coming to a realization because of

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