Week #5

I've begun Reading "Nine Stories." The first short story I read was "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."

A Perfect Day for Bananafish is about Seymour Glass, the oldest son of the Glass Family. Almost all of Salimger's writing other than "Catcher" is about this fictional Family. This story talkes place some time after when "Carpenters" Takes place (although "Bananafish" was written first." Seymour and his wife are on their Honeymoon. The wife (named Muriel) Gets a long distance Call from Her mother, who shows deep concern for her, and discrimination against her husband. She thinks Seymour is Dangerous and asks her to call if Seymour does anything questionable.

The story then shifts to The Beach where Seymour is. Seymour Meets a little girl and tells her about an abviously fictional seacreature called a "bananafish." Seymour says that Bananafish are fish who go into bananacaves and eat so many bananas that they sweel up. The Little girl responds by asking what happens after they swell. Seymour tells her they die.

The duo go out to the water to hunt for bananafish. The girl claims to have spot one. Seymour is filled with hapiness and kisses the little girl's ankle. The girl gets annoied by it. They don't capture the bananafish (obviously) and Seymour goes back to the Hotel room where Muriel is sleeping, pulls a gun, seemingly out of nowhere, and kills himself.

This is a singular, yet profound story, that ultamatley portrays a man who cannot cope with the confusing reality of Adult life. The Fictional Bananafish represents Childhood, and the death of the Bananafish represents the loss of innocence and furthermore the death of childhood. Because Seymour could not save the Bananafish, he could not save his longed-for innocence, and thus he killed himself.