J.D. Salinger on Time Magazine

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Thematic Obsessions of J.D. Salinger

            The thematic obsessions of an author can communicate many things, such as the author’s personal opinions or fascinations with life. The legendary author J.D. Salinger had a continuous literary obsession with age. Salinger’s young characters have a deeper insight into life than his adult characters. This expresses the idea that as children turn into adults, they lose their great ability to think for themselves and begin conform to society’s expectations and standards.

            The character Eloise in “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” by J.D. Salinger is a primary example of an adult who has lost the passion and happiness that she once had as a young woman. Although Eloise is still young, she is married and has a child named Ramona. Throughout the short story it is obvious that she “[looks] back to [her] younger years as a time of joy and happiness and [seems] dissatisfied with [her] current [life]” (Bouchard). Her feeling of regret becomes apparent during the story of her first love, Walt, who died during World War II. She says of Walt, “he was the only boy I ever knew that could make me laugh. I mean really laugh” (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 28). Walt, for Eloise, symbolizes her youth. This youth represents a time in which she was truly happy, unlike her present state. This emphasizes the common theme in Salinger’s writings, that as a person ages, he or she loses the happiness, satisfaction, and, in Eloise’s case, love and laughter that was so prevalent in his or her life. Eloise also exposes how adults conform to society’s expectations. Instead of living a loving marriage, she settles for a husband who she clearly does not care for. When her friend asks her why she married her husband, Eloise responds, “oh, God! I don’t know. He told me he loved Jane Austen [...] I found out after we were married that he hadn’t even read one of her books” (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 32). Obviously, Eloise merely married Lew because it is society’s expectation that once a woman reaches a certain age, she must get married and have children. Such conformity makes her extremely discontented, though. By Salinger making it so apparent how miserable Eloise is with her husband, he directly contrasts this relationship with the bond she had with Walt. The relationship with Walt symbolizes her past, her youth, and her bliss. The relationship with Lew symbolizes her present, her adulthood, and her dissatisfaction. By providing two symbolic relationships, Salinger directly shows how growing up decays the things that once brought joy. Love turns to boredom, and youth turns into adulthood.

            Esmé, the young girl in the short story, “For Esmé - With Love and Squalor” by Salinger, represents the children created by Salinger that symbolize the innocence of youth. This story is essentially about how a simple conversation with a brilliant little girl brings sanity to a soldier experiencing the aftermath of World War II. The narrator meets Esmé, though, before he has been drastically affected by the war. He is in a training course in England and has some spare time before departing. He eventually has a long conversation with the child, and he gives her his information so she can write to him (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 92-102). The reader discovers during the conversation how intelligent the little girl is as she uses advanced diction such as “squalor” and demonstrates her bilingual abilities, speaking in French and English (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 100; 101). Esmé also demonstrates the sincerity of children, asking the soldier, “do you think you’ll be coming here again in the immediate future?” (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 101). The genuine and obvious want to see this soldier again is clearly seen through this simple question of the child. This is a human who values the conversation of another and such genuine interest in the soldier and kindness is what will eventually save the soul and sanity of this man. Esmé brings humanity and hope to a man who will soon be distressed. The story then travels forward to a time when the war has just ended, and the same soldier has clearly been affected mentally by the war. In this portion of the story, the soldier seems disturbed in the mind, but after reading a letter form Esmé he says “then, suddenly, almost ecstatically, he felt sleepy. You take a really sleepy man, Esmé, and he always stands a change of again becoming a man with all his fac- with all his f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s intact” (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 114). Esmé’s kind heartedness so greatly affects the mentally shaken soldier that she brings him peace simply through a letter. His memory of time with her brings relief to him, something that, to Salinger, only a child can do. This is apparent because before the soldier reads Esmé’s letter, he has a conversation with a fellow comrade (Salinger, “Nine Stories” 106-111). All this conversation does is make him more tense and confused. This is because his comrade is also an adult, also someone who has been tainted with the destruction age brings. But Esmé, in her childlike wholesomeness, is able to remind the soldier of a more peaceful time. As Bouchard says, “in "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor" it is precisely Esmé's purity and kindness that saves the damaged soldier from his own jaded mind.” Without Esmé being a child, though, this would be impossible in Salinger’s writings.

            Although Salinger’s opinions of adults and children may not always be true, it is plausible that the youth of each generation brings a refreshing morality that adults often lose. This is a constant idea in many of Salinger’s works, one that often causes great controversy and discussion. Yet, it is important to recognize the refreshing purity that children can bring to the world.

Works Cited:

Bouchard, Jennifer. "Literary Contexts In Fiction: J.D. Salinger's "Nine Stories." Literary Contexts In Short Stories   Collections: J. D. Salinger's 'Nine Stories' (2008): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.     

Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991.

Salinger Quote

2010 San Diego Historical Society

Prayer Book

Book: Barnes and Noble

This is the novel that Franny becomes obsessed with in

"Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger. Its religious ideas intrigue her throughout the book.

Analyzing "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" Through the Psychoanalytic Lens

     Certain events in books can be shocking, unexpected, and even disheartening. The reasoning behind these actions, though, is what J.D. Salinger focuses on in his short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.” The main character, Seymour Glass, chooses to commit suicide in the final scene of the story. His decision to kill himself can be explained by analyzing his mental state of mind. The actions, comments, and dialogue in the story provide evidence for why Seymour feels that death is his only option.

       The first hint that Seymour is not in a healthy state of mind appears during his wife, Muriel’s, conversation with her mother. Her mother is extremely worried that Muriel is vacationing alone with Seymour in Florida. She has called her on the phone, asking many intriguing question that force the reader to wonder about Seymour’s actions. It soon becomes clear from this conversation that Seymour was a soldier in World War II and may be suffering mental effects from the war. Muriel’s mother tells her daughter that a doctor was spoken to about Seymour, and the doctor “very definitely told [her] father there’s a chance- a very great chance, he said- that Seymour may completely lose control of himself” (“Nine Stories” 6). At this point, it is exceedingly apparent that Seymour is a very disturbed character who may be suffering from a serious illness: post traumatic stress disorder. This idea is furthered throughout their conversation, as Muriel’s mother mentions “those horrible things he said to Granny about her plans for passing away,” potentially hinting at an obsession with death (“Nine Stories” 6). This mention of death foreshadows Seymour’s decision to take his own life. Muriel also constantly comments on how pale Seymour is, almost looking like a sickly man (“Nine Stories” 8). These topics throughout their conversation tell the reader that Seymour is suffering from a mental illness.

       The next scene is where we finally meet Seymour, as he interacts with a child named Sybil Carpenter. Seymour tells Sybil a fictional story he creates about “bananafish.” He tells Sybil that bananafish are fish who swim into holes and eat so many bananas that they get stuck in the holes and die (“Nine Stories” 15-16). This story is symbolic of how Seymour views the world that surrounds him after the war; the world that is causing him to feel like there is no escape but death. The bananafish are representative of American adults who are consuming material items. Eventually, these people become so consumed in materialism that they are stuck in a superficial world, or the holes, which brings about their symbolic death as genuine and authentic people. This is how Seymour sees the society surrounding him, which is partly what causes him to go crazy after the war. It is challenging to imagine a person transferring from fighting for his life to worrying about what new outfit is fashionable. Salinger makes this materialism even more present if the reader refers back to the first scene. Muriel discusses fashion with her mother in the midst of talking about Seymour’s fragile state of mind. Her mother asks, “how are the clothes this year?” and Muriel responds, “terrible. But out of this world. You see sequins- everything” (“Nine Stories” 8). By Salinger directly contrasting these two subjects in their conversation, he is pointing out how petty and trivial material items are compared to the effects the war had on brave men. Clearly, this world has become one consumed by materialism, bringing about the death of not only a meaningful world, but the death of Seymour.

       The final scene in the book is where Seymour destroys himself. This happens immediately after he is in the elevator with a woman and oddly remarks to her, “I see you’re looking at my feet” (“Nine Stories” 17). This observation and his following remarks make the woman so uncomfortable that she asks the car operator to let her out (“Nine Stories” 17). This is the final thing that alerts the reader that Seymour is mentally unstable, and that his following actions are only happening because of his distressed and disturbed state of mind. Once Seymour gets out of the elevator, he enters his room and “went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple” (“Nine Stories” 18). The abrupt description of Seymour’s death tells the audience that he has planned this action and feels no regret about it. Such bluntness displays even further how drastically ill this man is. The war has ruined him, the post traumatic stress disorder ate at him, and the modern world he returned to killed him.

       In order to fully comprehend such a tragic story, it is important to analyze each detail in the narrative. This exposes the logic behind the actions, logic that the audience may not understand upon the first time reading the story. Once the reader takes the time to delve into the tortured mind of Seymour, though, the reasoning behind his death becomes clear.

Works Cited:

Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991.

"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" Drawing

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” Artist: Josh LaFayette