A Perfect Day for Bananafish

Seymour’s alienation in postwar America also speaks to the deeper, more pervasive loneliness that complacency and materialism breed. Seymour and Muriel are disconnected from one another, both physically and emotionally. Muriel spends most of her time on the phone with her mother, leaving Seymour alone. The only time they are together within the narrative is when Seymour returns to the room and takes his life—an act that separates them permanently. Other relationships fare little better. Sybil’s mother pays her no attention while applying sunblock to her back, absorbed in a discussion of a silk handkerchief; tellingly, one of her few remarks to Sybil is an attempt to shut down conversation, as she tells her daughter to “stop saying that” when Sybil repeats Seymour’s name. Muriel and her mother’s relationship is similarly superficial. Their conversation, though long, veers between trivialities and cross-purposes as Muriel deflects her mother’s expressions of concern.

Seymour and Sybil’s relationship represents the only genuine connection in the story, and it does not last. Seymour finds solace in their conversations and tells her the story of the bananafish, a fish that gorges on bananas and becomes so bloated that it can’t swim out of its hole and eventually dies. This story is metaphor for Seymour’s own life. He is a man who has become bloated with the emptiness of his existence and feels trapped and unable to escape. Seymour and Sybil’s interactions are short-lived, and Seymour is ultimately unable to find the deeper connection he craves. The story ends with Seymour’s death by suicide. This final act is a culmination of all the feelings of isolation, alienation, and despair that Seymour experiences.

Salinger uses several stylistic techniques to keep readers at a remove from the characters, thereby underscoring the characters’ own isolation. For example, Salinger introduces Seymour secondhand through the dialogue of his wife and mother-in-law, which is itself notable as much for what it does not say as for what it does. The discussion creates the impression that Seymour’s behavior has been unusual and (at least by society’s estimation) inappropriate, but it leaves the details of his actions almost completely to the reader’s imagination. In fact, Muriel’s mother’s summation of Seymour’s actions consists entirely of sentence fragments: “The trees. That business with the window. Those horrible things he said to Granny about her plans for passing away. What he did with all those lovely pictures from Bermuda” (7). Although Seymour’s later appearance fleshes out his personality somewhat, the story continues to rely heavily on indirect means of characterization—e.g., the use of symbolism to convey Seymour’s sense of isolation and disconnection. Seymour is drawn to the ocean and spends a lot of time sitting on the beach watching the waves because the ocean represents the vastness of the world and the fact that Seymour feels small and insignificant in comparison. This oblique narrative style immerses readers in the alienated society the story depicts.