A Perfect Day For Bananafish Literary Analysis

333 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Innocence in american literature

In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” numbers symbolize Seymour’s evolving views on the innocence of children. Throughout the story, Seymour feels accepted by children because they seem innocent compared to corrupt, materialistic adults. He and his wife Muriel share room 507 in a hotel where she worries about her appearance and gossips with her mother, while Seymour is on the beach. Muriel discloses on the phone that Seymour never removes his bathrobe. He does, however, remove the robe in front of Sybil, a child, because he feels comfortable around her (9-13). The missing integer in 507 represents Muriel’s lack of innocence and significant values and Seymour’s missing materialism that separates him from adult society. Muriel is shallow and materialistic;

Show More
Related

  • Literary Analysis: The Day Brushes Its Curtains Aside

    562 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many poets use different types of figurative language to express themselves and convey a message, theme, or idea. In the poem The Day Brushes Its Curtains Aside, by Jimmy Santiago Baca, he describes a man in prison by using figurative language. Reading this poem has helped me grasp a deeper understanding of different ways an author can incorporate figurative language to make the reader feel as if they are in the story right next to the character.

    Read More

  • Theme of Friendship in Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lady Seymour and Isabel’s relationship is assembled on both of them being there for each other. An example of loyalty in their friendship is when Isabel saves Lady Seymour from dying when her house is on fire. She awakes realizing the mansion is up in flames. Isabel pulls Lady Seymour along with her, risking her own life, “I dropped the boxes and doll, draped her arm around me, and half fell down the rest of the stairs. Once on the ground floor, she tried to walk, but one of her legs was failing her. I opened the front door and dragged the two of us out to the street.” (193). Isabel takes two relics, that are important to Lady Seymour with her. She takes a painting of a yellow-haired man, Lady Seymour’s husband, and some coins. This is loyal because Isabel could have easily let Lady Seymour die while she decamped the fire. Instead, she drags weak Lady Seymour out of the fire. Isabel holds the valuables because she knows they are important to Lady Seymour and does not want to let her down. To compensate for what Isabel did for her, Lady Seymour gives Isabel money to escape with Curzon. “‘I’ll put the money back,’ I said. ‘Forgive me.’ She shook her head from side to side, her mouth movi...

    Read More

  • Poor Fish By Alberto Moravia Character Analysis

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    In our culture today, people constantly put themselves down by criticizing their own appearance, wishing they could be better. They persistently tell themselves that they are not pretty enough, skinny enough, strong enough, or smart enough to fit in. The dishwasher in “Poor Fish” written by Alberto Moravia thought the same thing of himself. He kept finding ways to express how grotesque he was, but Ida kept on persisting that nothing was wrong with him. In the story, the dishwasher and Ida play different roles and represent different character types; however, despite their differences, they both play a vital role throughout the story.

    Read More

  • The House On Mango Street Literary Analysis

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    One mark of great storytelling is the portrayal of characters’ development or metamorphose throughout the plot. All great literary characters gradually transform, for better or for worse, as their journey progresses. Sandra Cisneros’ novella, The House on Mango Street, centers around Esperanza Cordero, a young girl living in a poverty stricken area of Chicago. The story follows Esperanza’s thoughts through several vignettes, showing her maturation from adolescence to early adulthood. Through the change in tone and juxtaposing vignettes, Cisneros shows how maturity is derived from the loss of innocence and the gaining of knowledge.

    Read More

  • The Goldfinch Literary Analysis

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Goldfinch is a novel by Donna Tartt. The story focuses on the life of Theodore Decker, who loses his mother after a bomb blast during a visit to a local museum. The novel shows Theo's development as a teenager, his encounters, and struggles as an orphan. The book also traces Theo’s overall development from influenced child into a manipulating grown up, from innocence to expertise among other encounters. The Fortress of Solitude is a novel by Jonathan Lethem. The book’s plot revolves around the lives of two teenage friends, Mingus Rude and Dylan Ebdus, one white, and the other black where the two friends discover a magic ring. The books expound on the issues of music, self-discovery as well as race and culture.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Feminism, Existentialism And Post-Colonialism

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    His family members are afraid of his strange behaviors and want to avoid him rather than accepting his behaviors and helping him integrate to the society. Then they discuss clothing and other women, Muriel and her parents symbolize the secular people in this adult society which surround by the endless desires, the narrow, shallow inner world with prejudice against others. According to Fabio Furukawa (2015), Sybil is a child, her world should be pure, this is what Seymour wants, but Sybil saw six bananafishes, which means the children will grow up, and finally they will generate desire and jealousy to become bonanafish. The banana hole is a symbol of the adult world, and bananafishes symbolize the people who are controlled by the greed and endless desires (banana fever). These people’s life is pursuing their desires until they die. What’s more, Seymour’s bare feet is a symbol of unbound life, he was angry when he felt the sight came from others, because he doesn’t wear shoes which is a strange behavior in adult world, and it is hard to be accepted by adult world same as unbound life is hard to be

    Read More

  • A Perfect Day for Bananafish

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk remarks, “The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.” Jerome David Salinger expanded on this idea through writing the short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish". The literary genius was born on January 1, 1919 in New York City. He earned his education from public schools in the West Side of Manhattan and after moving, from McBurney School where he wrote for the school's newspaper and was manager of the fencing team. In 1941, Salinger began submitting stories for The New Yorker magazine, but was soon drafted into the army in 1942. During this time, he met with a great influence to his writing, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway praised Salinger’s writing and remarked on his talent during their correspondence. After a few years of fighting in the war, J.D. Salinger was assigned to the counter-intelligence division due to his fluency in German and French where he was sent to interrogate the war prisoners. Subsequent to his service in counter-intelligence, Salinger submitted a short story titled “Bananafish” to The New Yorker in 1947. Another highly acclaimed literary work of his is The Catcher in The Rye, which was published in 1951. (Charles McGrath)

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies, An Analysis

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.

    Read More

  • Characters in A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Seymour is similar to the bananafish as he swam his way up the stream of life ingesting the materialism and superficiality that past him on his journey. Half way up the stream he stopped pondered why he had even bothered in the first place. Now he cannot go back down the stream (to Sybil) against the current and cannot bear to continue (with Muriel). At this point Seymour is described as having ?banana fever? or becoming so engulfed in materialism. His only rational option would be to stay in the banana hole and die.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies essay

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.

    Read More

  • A Perfect Day For A Bananafish Summary

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    This current cultural environment of materialism during the post-World War II period inspired J.D Salinger to pen the short story “A Perfect Day for a Bananafish.” It is a story that details the suicide of Seymour Glass. Salinger, in his story, critiques the materialist consumerism that arose after the second world war. The American society has not been severely impacted by the war in comparison to Europe. The country was also doing well finally, and the economic prosperity that arises during the war meant that a large number of the population has sufficient finances to make unnecessary purchases (Franssen, 158). This lead to the emergence of a society that was characterized by greediness and spendthrifts. Essentially, suicide is an accomplishment in a "phony" society that is based on materialism.

    Read More

  • Searching for Innocence: A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Salinger, J. D. A Perfect Day for Bananafish. 1948. Nine Stories. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. American Heritage School. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. .

    Read More

  • A Perfect Day for Bananafish

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Picture walking into a hotel room  and finding a  man dead on a bed.  Upon  closer inspection it becomes obvious that he has supposedly taken his own life with the gun that lay beside him.  In  talking to his wife who was asleep on the bed next to him when this incident occurred, it is learned that he just walked in the door and shot  himself late the previous night.  Out of the many questions that could be asked from this story, I believe that it is probably extremely important to consider why  the main character, Seymour Glass, decided to commit suicide.

    Read More

  • The Pearl Literary Analysis

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    If you were given a million dollars, what would you do? Spend it in a short amount of time? Or save it responsibly for the future? Many would say the latter, confident that they will accomplish that. But for a few, it doesn’t turn out that way. In the book, The Pearl, a family, Kino, Juana and their child, Coyotito, go through various hardships after they have found a pearl, eventually losing everything they had loved. With three examples from the novel, I will explain what the pearl in the book symbolizes.

    Read More

  • A Perfect Day For Bananafish Character Analysis

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, by J.D. Salinger, the main character is Seymour Glass, a man that has a disease from the war that affects his mental health. Another important character is Muriel Glass, Seymour’s wife. She is materialistic, and seems not to care that much for Seymour's illness. The story opens with Muriel talking to her mom on the phone, while Seymour is outside on the beach. Seymour says hi to a little child, Sybil. He talks with Sybil for a while about an animal called a bananafish. After talking with Sybil, Seymour goes up to his room, and commits suicide with a gun while Muriel is sleeping. J.D. Salinger’s intention of writing this short story was to show what can happen if you get too materialistic and what can happen if you don’t communicate enough.

    Read More

More about A Perfect Day For Bananafish Literary Analysis

Open Document