J.D Salinger, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, (1948)
I am currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and I did not have enough time to read the whole book. In interest of continuing a book/short story per week, I read A Perfect Day for Bananafish a couple of weeks ago as it is short but renowned as part of J.D Salingers collection of works. This piece is considered to have shifted his position in literary circles for the better. I found this short story to be relatively blunt and depressing in many ways, while Catcher in the Rye is a longer story that has the opportunity for analysis and enjoying some sections, A Perfect Day for Bananafish for me started and ended in sad circumstances.
There is discussion of PTSD but critics and analysis tends to see Seymour’s state as a result of far more than just PTSD and memories of World War Two. What I was not aware of was his presence in other Salinger works. This would add more context to the character who in the end commits suicide. His aloof and self-obsessed wife shapes the early background on Seymour in this story and her own characteristics likely define how his experience is reflected in the text. Seymour is clearly troubled but this could be the result of many things even if it prompts his actions that in many ways are inappropriate and only add to the depressing nature of the story. Muriel Glass, Seymour’s wife begins the story on the phone with her mother and the details of her life are derived from this conversation such that the aloofness and self-obsession is clear to see.
The interaction between young Sybil Carpenter and Seymour define the second section of the story after Muriel’s phone conversation. It is during this conversation that the titular bananafish are referenced. As I read this interaction I felt uneasy and Sybil references another young girl Sharon Lipschutz who was at the hotel and sat with Seymour as he played the piano the previous evening.
“Well they swim into a hole where there’s a lot of bananas. They’re very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs. Why, I’ve known some bananafish to swim into a banana hole and eat as many as seventy-eight bananas.” He edged the float and its passenger a foot closer to the horizon. “Naturally, after that they’re so fat they can’t get out of the hole again. Can’t fit through the door.”
There is little space to interpret Seymour’s irritability following Sybil leaving, this is a story that requires context and looking at his actions in a more general sense. There is a juxtaposition of Sybil’s innocence with Seymour’s own anguish, critics align this with another cause for his eventual suicide. Generally, though there is space to draw conclusions of what motivated Seymour to do what he did. The collection of Salinger’s work would inevitably help provide more context, however, it also clear that he leaves actions in this story open for the reader. The phone call section is far easier to derive information from and points to a wider universe of characters in the Glass family. I did not really enjoy this story as it was just a depressing piece without a huge amount of plot or narrative but given the common style of Salinger’s works this is perhaps unsurprising. If you did not enjoy Catcher in the Rye this short story will evoke similar feelings. The vague interactions and Salinger’s writing style are generally critically well received and this does fall into the category of writing that has been received positively, however, clearly I just do not have the same positive feelings toward his writing.
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