Suicide in A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J. D. Salinger Essay

A Perfect Day for Bananafish follows the events preeminent up to the eventual felo-de-se of Seymour Glass. In the drool, Seymour is described as a lost spirit who sees himself as being fundamentally different from his favorable 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 introduction. Salinger uses the storys dialog as the medium for conveying Seymours struggle he establishes the shallow nature of the environment Seymour is exposed to using the dialog mingled with Muriel and her Mother while simultaneously giving clues about Seymours display case from the perspectives of the two women in his life. Seymours character is built upon further in the second half of the story during the scene in which he converses with Sybil, and besides when Seymour is in the elevator moments before he commits suicide. The subtle clues Salinger weaves into the dialog rede that Seymour commits s uicide 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 protest wife and the society in which he lives. The opening of the story serves to bring forth the precedent that Muriel is shallow. The first passage describes how Muriel uses her two and a half hr waiting period before her mothers call. She accomplishes multiple tasks such as painting her toenails, reading a womens pocket-size powder magazine article, brushing her hair, and removing a stain from a skirt. Salinger describes Muriel as a female child who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing. The references to Muriel as a young lady are repeated without the story to signify her immaturity her touch on for trivial... ...nd his own life. Many of these clues can be found in the storys dialog. They suggest that Seymours suicide is the manifestation of an awakening gained through his war experienc e 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 Seymours mental faculties were damaged by his wartime experience, leaving him ill and unstable. The text can be read many ways however, at that place is no single interpretation that captures the complexity of Salingers short story. temporary hookup the clues that Salinger leaves throughout the story influence the subscribers perspective on Seymour Glass, ultimately the meaning and justification of Seymours suicide depends on the readers personal connection to the protagonist.