The People in Seymour Glass‘S “Tragic Life” Involved in Many Ways by Changing His Perceptions of People as Well as Himself.
- Submitted by: Luzaan
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 09/28/2010 03:16 PM
- Pages: 6
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“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a small piece from the lives of Muriel and Seymour Glass. These two characters are married and have driven from their hometown, New York to Florida where they are on an unexpected vacation. This is a story which brings confusion as well as deeper meaning to emotions a person must have experienced, personally, during a terrible event such as war.
Salinger has written the story in an abnormal manner, but still makes the occurrences in the story seem common. The opening of the story takes place in the hotel room where the first character, Muriel is busy pampering herself while waiting for a phone call. We read that she only picks up the phone after five rings and absolutely takes her time to get to it. You could assume that she is quite popular and that she is not surprised by the phone ringing for her. Her mother on the other side of the phone is clearly worried about Muriel as she immediately starts the conversation with “I’ve been worried to death about you.” and “Are you all right, Muriel?”(86). We as readers learn at this scene that Seymour was in the war and have spent some time in a veteran’s hospital. From the conversation of Muriel and her mother we can conclude that he has tried funny things with Muriel’s father’s car and that he is in a world of his own especially in relation to death. Her mother is neurotic about Seymour and his troubles, but cold at the same time. These to women are perfect examples of being materialistic by the way they talk about fashion and thinking that everything can be bought.
The story then changes to the beach where Seymour is chitchatting with a little girl. Sybil Carpenter is a little girl Seymour finds friendship from and could possibly also be attracted to. She resembles innocence and this is what Seymour is looking for. The difference between adulthood and childhood is the way you would experience life and the ability to see deeper meanings. Seymour finds qualities in Sybil he does not...
Salinger has written the story in an abnormal manner, but still makes the occurrences in the story seem common. The opening of the story takes place in the hotel room where the first character, Muriel is busy pampering herself while waiting for a phone call. We read that she only picks up the phone after five rings and absolutely takes her time to get to it. You could assume that she is quite popular and that she is not surprised by the phone ringing for her. Her mother on the other side of the phone is clearly worried about Muriel as she immediately starts the conversation with “I’ve been worried to death about you.” and “Are you all right, Muriel?”(86). We as readers learn at this scene that Seymour was in the war and have spent some time in a veteran’s hospital. From the conversation of Muriel and her mother we can conclude that he has tried funny things with Muriel’s father’s car and that he is in a world of his own especially in relation to death. Her mother is neurotic about Seymour and his troubles, but cold at the same time. These to women are perfect examples of being materialistic by the way they talk about fashion and thinking that everything can be bought.
The story then changes to the beach where Seymour is chitchatting with a little girl. Sybil Carpenter is a little girl Seymour finds friendship from and could possibly also be attracted to. She resembles innocence and this is what Seymour is looking for. The difference between adulthood and childhood is the way you would experience life and the ability to see deeper meanings. Seymour finds qualities in Sybil he does not...