But when Seymour notices that the visitor is a child, he relaxes, and it’s not long before he takes off his robe entirely to go swimming with her. When Sybil walks up and startles him, Seymour’s hand instinctively flies up to the lapels of his robe, as if he were closing it tighter and closing himself off from the interaction. Indeed, when the story introduces Seymour a few pages later, he’s lying on the beach with his eyes closed, but he’s bundled up in his robe. However, his bizarre attachment to the bathrobe actually symbolizes how he closes himself off to other adults and the adult world they inhabit. Here are a few analyses I found interesting:Ī Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D.Near the beginning of the story, Muriel complains to her mother that Seymour refuses to take his bathrobe off, which she flippantly attributes to him wanting to hide his pale complexion. I encourage you to read more analyses of this story if you are interested. The story was very well received and greatly advanced Salinger’s career. It was later anthologized in 1949’s 55 Short Stories from The New Yorker, as well as in Salinger’s 1953 collection, Nine Stories. Thus, A Perfect Day for Bananafish was published in the Januissue of The New Yorker. Salinger reworked the story to what it is today. Interestingly, when the story was originally submitted to The New Yorker for publication (in 1947) it was deemed “incomprehensible”. I think this is one of those stories that will grow on you… and the more you think about it, the more you get out of it.
While I didn’t pick up on all the symbolism in the story, it was still a heartbreaking tale about a man struggling to reconcile what he experienced in the war with everyday life after the war. Understanding that helps to understand this short story from a deeper perspective I think. I have also read that Salinger may have suffered from PTSD himself. I knew that Salinger was basically a recluse and lived a very private life.
Muriel removes padding from a blue coat, so Salinger is indicating that Muriel is lacking in purity. It is supposed that Salinger was trying to suggest that Seymour wants to return to innocence. The color blue is used in the story (Muriel’s coat, Seymour’s swimming trunks) and apparently blue symbolizes innocence and purity.The bananafish may also symbolize emotions or the emotional pain felt by Seymour.However, the analysis implies Salinger was using the bananafish story to suggest “that people fatten themselves with materialism”. The names are supposedly important and symbolize that Seymour has “seen more” than he should have or wanted to (in the war) and that he prefers to keep his “lips shut” and avoid communication with others, particularly adults. I noted above that I thought Muriel was either knowingly or unknowingly oblivious to the seriousness of Seymour’s PTSD… so I observed her selfishness, but I didn’t arrive at that conclusion specifically via her materialism and focus on appearance. This means that Muriel is more focused on herself than on others, and particularly not concerned about Seymour. The analysis I read implies that Muriel’s interest in her appearance and clothes, as well as her brand-name dropping and judgment of others’ clothing and appearance indicates her selfishness. However, I didn’t get that materialism and appearance were specific themes. I think I picked up on innocence (Seymour’s interaction with the little girl) and maybe communication (Seymour obviously doesn’t communicate well with others). Themes in the book include appearance, innocence, materialism, and communication.Let’s talk about some of the themes and symbolism in the story. That technically isn’t an incorrect summary of the story, but based on an analysis I read afterwards there is a lot more to the story than I picked up on originally. Either that, or Salinger is simply too deep for me, because as far as I’m concerned this was simply a story about a man with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and his wife who was oblivious (either knowingly or unknowingly) to the seriousness of his condition. I’m definitely not a literature major, nor am I very good at picking up symbolism or clues in a narrative apparently. Remember, it is nearly impossible to talk about a short story without some type of spoiler, so proceed with caution if you haven’t read the story yourself. A Perfect Day for Bananafish was the first story in the collection so I logically started there. This book includes A Perfect Day for Bananafish as well as eight other short stories (hence the title of the book). I recently picked up a paperback at the library of Salinger’s Nine Stories. Published: Originally in issue of The New YorkerĪn enigmatic examination of a young married couple, Muriel and Seymour Glass, while on vacation in Florida.
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