A Perfect Day for Bananafish follows the events leading up to the eventual suicide of Seymour Glass. In the story, Seymour is described as a lost spirit who sees himself as being fundamentally different from his social environment following his wartime experience; he leaves the war “seeing-more” and as a result, awakens to find that he has lost touch with the material world. Salinger uses the story’s dialog as the medium for conveying Seymour’s struggle; he establishes the shallow nature of the environment Seymour is exposed to using the dialog between Muriel and her Mother while simultaneously giving clues about Seymour’s character from the perspectives of the two women in his life. Seymour’s character is built upon further in the second half of the story during the scene in which he converses with Sybil, and also when Seymour is in the elevator moments before he commits suicide. The subtle clues Salinger weaves into the dialog suggest that Seymour commits suicide to escape the dilemma of either conforming to the materialistic world and sacrificing his spirituality, or choosing not to conform and consequently live estranged from his own wife and the society in which he lives. The opening of the story serves to create the precedent that Muriel is shallow. The first passage describes how Muriel “uses” her two and a half hour waiting period before her mother’s call. She accomplishes multiple tasks such as painting her toenails, reading a women’s pocket-size magazine article, brushing her hair, and removing a stain from a skirt. Salinger describes Muriel as “a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing.” The references to Muriel as “a girl” are repeated throughout the story to signify her immaturity; her concern for trivial...
... middle of paper ...
...nd his own life. Many of these clues can be found in the story’s dialog. They suggest that Seymour’s suicide is the manifestation of an awakening gained through his war experience; he is separated from the shallow environment he lives in and can find no other escape. Perhaps Seymour commits suicide in an attempt to break through the barrier that separates him from Muriel and the rest of society. Or maybe Seymour’s mental faculties were damaged by his wartime experience, leaving him disturbed and unstable. The text can be read many ways; however, there is no single interpretation that captures the complexity of Salinger’s short story. While the clues that Salinger leaves throughout the story influence the reader’s perspective on Seymour Glass, ultimately the meaning and justification of Seymour’s suicide depends on the reader’s personal connection to the protagonist.
“I never found myself needing that piece of paper,” is a remark actor Johnny Depp made back in 2010 about his relationship with longtime partner Vanessa Paradis. Depp and Paradis have been in a relationship since 1998 and have two children together, Lily Rose and Jack. Another member of Hollywood’s elite, Latin singer Shakira, shares a similar view saying that marriage is like a contract, and that is unromantic. However, celebrities living like Shakira and Depp are also committing fornication and already view themselves as being married; the marriage is just not official. This draws comparisons to Ernest Gaines’ novel 'A Lesson Before Dying'. Two of the novel’s main characters, Grant and Vivian, have sex outside of marriage because they cannot be married since Vivian is still legally married to another man (Gaines 29). Even though of Vivian’s situation differs slightly from that of Depp’s, the act is still the same. These adults are conducting the act of sex outside of marriage; they are either ignoring what their religion teaches on the subject or do not care what religion has to say.
The first way J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him, is...
Zooey Glass is the only member of the Glass family to be completely at peace with the loss of their oldest brother, Seymour. As Buddy phrases it in his letter to Zooey, “[Waker] said you were the only one who was bitter about S.’s suicide and the only one who really forgave him” (68). Bessie and Franny both have not moved on, consequently aggravating Zooey. Zooey puts his own feelings aside to help Franny, showing how much love he has for her, considering he has no interest in trying to help his mother. Zooey knows that Franny needs as much love and support as she can get, though she constantly pushes people away, including him. Franny has not come to grasp the reality of Seymour’s death and moved on, therefore Zooey becomes as selfless as he can to provide Franny with the closure she so desperately
As Irving Howe once observed, “The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable.” In a dynamic society, innocence evades even the youngest members of our world; it evades even the nonexistent members of our world. J.D. Salinger explores this elusive innocence in his short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Distinct similarities appear between the main character, Seymour Glass, and Salinger including the World War II experience and attraction for younger, more innocent people (Salerno). Salinger conveys this through Seymour’s preference of a young girl’s company over his own wife's company. Throughout the story, “Salinger constantly draws attention to himself and his precocious intellect” (Daniel Moran). “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” revolves around an army veteran post-World War II who visits a beach resort with his wife but spends more time there with the young Sybil Carpenter. Using a historical context of World War II and portrayal of many different characters, Salinger effectively depicts the story of a man in a desperate search for innocence. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism and figurative language to stress the concept of unattainable innocence.
Jerome David Salinger was an influential writer in the 1950’s. He reflected his own personal life in all his fictional stories and several of Salinger’s fictional characters appear to be alter egos at various stages of his life. The autobiographical fiction “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a reflection of Salinger’s own war experience and his marital infidelity. The story focuses on the main character Seymour Glass, who is a veteran of World War 2 and consequently a victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result of the traumatic event he had encountered, Seymour Glass grew feelings of detachment and estrangement from the society that surrounded him. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” J.D. Salinger ingeniously uses conflict, characterization, and motivation to reveal how victims who have suffered a traumatic event may be driven to a state of isolation.
There are plenty of different kinds of books written, and published today. It’s a interesting form of entertainment that still holds up along side modern adaptations, like television or games. Books have a wider open door to visualization and interoperation. People can read things differently according to their own experiences. It’s up to the author to still allow that room for interoperation while keeping the books characters and plot on track. Looking at a book from the point of one main character, people may want to relate themselves to that character. That way they can feel and experience that change the character does.
The day that his brother died, the narrator “broke all the windows in the garage” and “slept in the garage”; even now, his “hand still hurts [him] once in a while...and [he] can’t make a real fist anymore” (Salinger, 39). Because he loved his brother so much, Holden was heartbroken by Allie’s death, and he ruined his hand out of grief. However, he does not care about the damage to himself and does not regret breaking it; to him, Allie’s death was a much greater loss than his marred hand. All of Holden’s revolt shows that he is unable to accept the fact that Allie has passed away, which is why he begins to have hallucinations of his brother reappearing. He confesses, “I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear...’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him” (Salinger, 198). Holden misses Allie, who has disappeared from the physical world after his death, so he fears dying and disappearing just as his brother did years ago. Therefore, he has developed a trauma, or a neurosis in psychoanalytic terms, from his brother’s death, which causes his hallucinations and irrational fears. Luckily, when the author tells this past occurrence, he realizes that his behavior was eccentric and odd; most likely, he later becomes
Depression is the most common mental illness and the reason why many people commit suicide. It is commonly found when people fail to cope effectively with stress or experience painful, disturbing or traumatic events that overwhelm them. Suicide has become one of the main cause of death for young adults in Canada, leaving only tragic incidents behind; around 4000 Canadians die every year by committing suicide (“Canadian Mental Health Association”). America, by E.R. Frank, is about a young child, who goes through a lot of emotional and physical pain due to the people around him. When he is older, America hesitates to tell anyone about the traumatic events that he had gone through. America’s emotional state is damaged by his mother, Browning, and the whole system. In general, these people caused America to suffer emotionally and mentally. They did not take good care of America, forced him to think
When one finds themselves in a reader’s position, they search for things in the novel that they can relate to. J. D. Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present and future, can relate to in several ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to his poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and complications with his emotions due to the traumatic loss of his brother. He quickly understands how his narrow view of the world will lead him into trouble when he finds himself alone. The reader accompanies Holden through his stressful experiences over a period of three days through which we learn of his pain-filled past and negative outlook on the future. Some of the barriers Holden came upon during the time period of the novel are themes of everyday life. In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger intends to grab his audience’s attention with the story of a young teen named Holden Caulfield who must face emotional damage, hidden truths, and accepting responsibility
“Spinster” by Sylvia Plath is a poem that consists of a persona, who in other words serves as a “second self” for the author and conveys her innermost feelings. The poem was written in 1956, the same year as Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes, who was also a poet. The title suggests that the persona is one who is not fond of marriage and the normal rituals of courtship as a spinster is an unmarried woman, typically an older woman who is beyond the usual age of marriage and may never marry. The persona of the poem is a woman who dislikes disorder and chaos and finds relationships to be as unpredictable as the season of spring, in which there is no sense of uniformity. In this poem, Plath not only uses a persona to disclose her feelings, but also juxtaposes the seasons and their order (or lack thereof) and relates them to the order that comes with solitude and the disorder that is attributed with relationships. She accomplishes this through her use of formal diction, which ties into both the meticulous structure and develops the visual imagery.
Suicide has become one of the many means that problematic individuals take into consideration to exempt from an unpleasant or oppressive situation. Suicide can be generally defined as the act of causing one’s death usually out of despair. People who are likely to commit suicide are those who suffer from severe mental illnesses and are involved with alcohol and drugs. Other than that, individuals who are experiencing unemployment and divorce can also be possible victims to commit such act. Based on the study done in the year 1997, an average of fifteen-percent who are clinically depressed ended up committing suicide. Furthermore, suicide was the eighth leading cause of death in the US (“Suicide”). It is prevalent for depressed individuals to consider suicide when major issues in life do not work out well. The big question is, what makes a person thinks that ending his or her life can help oneself to escape from the reality when life has so much more to offer?
Suicide is a preventable, yet a very serious public health problem. In 2009, more deaths resulted from suicide than from car accidents in the United States. Citation here! In the past, suicide prevention has been more geared towards youths and adolescents. However, recent research has shown an increase in suicide of middle-aged adults and this increase places suicide at the fourth leading cause of death among this age group. Citation here Little is known about midlife suicides, so with that in mind, direct practice workers need an understanding in how to address the needs and concerns of the middle-age group, so that suicide can be prevented.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, suicide is the action of killing oneself intentionally. Causes of suicide can be out of despair. This can be a consequence of several stress factors such as financial difficulties, personal troubles...etc. Work suicide can be caused by the recession; this destroys a very large number of jobs, especially in the telecoms companies because they have a technological revolution. It can also be caused by bad working conditions and frequent unannounced changes in the work environment. Companies need to improve their productivity, which means that employees have to work harder and longer, this can also lead to being “stressed out”.
William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying" centers on the death and ensuing burial of the matriarch of the Bundren family, Addie. The book is written in first person point of view and is narrated by family members and acquaintances of Addie. It is through the narratives of the other characters that her personality is revealed. Few clearly defined details about Addie are given in the novel, and as such, the reader must learn about her through the narrations of the other characters. Addie Bundren is a complex woman with many conflicting personality traits that often influence others.
We as humans, according to Camus, seek meaning. As humans we look for answers in a meaningless universe that yields no such comfort to our questions. Camus says it is absurd to shout into this void for answers. Since there is no such meaning, you as a free agent can choose to find meaning by taking a leap of faith, placing your hopes in a god, or choose to conclude that life is meaningless which results in suicide. Those that judge life as unworthy of living commit suicide. Since there is no such meaning, you as a free agent can choose to find meaning by taking a leap of faith, placing your hopes in a god, or choose to conclude that life is meaningless which results in suicide. Is suicide always the result of a