Literary Analysis Essay on A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

Introduction

Certain undertakings in the books we read can be disheartening, unexpected and even shocking. The rationally behind these actions is what Salinger emphases in his write up, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Salinger's main character, Seymour Glass depicts the immense psychological brawls of a Second World War veteran. It is through Freudian psychoanalysis of Seymour that showcases the different effects of War-damaged psyche on the ability of Seymour to perform in the community. Salinger in several instances in A Perfect Day for Bananafish depicts how Seymour's sense of judgment does not function as those of other adults who are with him. It is also clear that his superego is the dominant force behind his unusual behavior and not the pleasure principle.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The superego which accelerates Seymour unusual behavior makes us think he is acting like a childlike human being. His childlike innocence is assumed to be the facet of his id that motivates him to act in such a manner. As the end nears, the main character's ego sums it all that it is near impossible for him to fit into a materialistic community. It is crystal clear that war and the community that Seymour gets contact with after coming back from war play significant roles in his suicide. Therefore, Seymour's behavior is the results of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that emanated from the stressful state of affairs; he ever experienced at war; nonetheless, he remains in the spirit of innocence and truth.

Materialistic individuals surround us. For instance, Salinger depicts materialistic enthusiasm in the A Perfect Day for Bananafish through characters such as Muriel's mother and Muriel herself. In one example Muriel discusses vividly on fashion with her mum. In between the discussion, her mother asks her, "how are the clothes?" and her daughter responds, "terrible. But out of this world." (Salinger, 21-25). By contrast the conservation between these two characters, it is no doubt that Salinger is showcasing how trivial and petty material items are being likened to the impact of war on the war heroes. The world Seymour is living has been consumed by materialism, thus bringing about his untimely death and death of a meaningful world. False opinions concerning the materialistic society had a great toil on the hero's mind. The activities and actions of the war had already changed Seymour's personality. The war contributed immensely towards Seymour's uncontrolled childlike behavior, innocence and a little bit of immaturity. Thus, his actions were different from those around him. His closest buddies were even not able to comprehend his actions and behavior. For instance, the dialogue Muriel had with her mother concerning the state of mind of Seymour questions the mental capabilities of Seymour. She even thinks that Seymour could be a threat to the community. Muriel's mother is frightened of Seymour. She even contemplates of recalling her daughter from vacation but is downplayed by Muriel, who is calm and believes that the issue at hand is not serious. She claims that her better half is fine; hence her mom should never be scared. But in certainty, Muriel is not ready to acknowledge and own up the truth about the present situation of her husband's mental status.

As far as the community is apprehensive, readers may acknowledge that after the war, most people are too overawed with materialism ideas; hence, there is no place in the society for all the innocent war heroes. For that reason, it is impossible for Seymour's id to fit well into a naturalistic community that changed considerably after the war. Equally, all the above factors are the ones that led him to succumb to mental instability and superego. Seymour also faces another problem. Seymour's psychological state complexity traps him in between two worlds. This leads Seymour to his sense of thinking thus making him unable to pick anything of substance to live for in the world that he desires. Seymour for sure is stuck in the world of unknowns. Nothing is seen to be wrong with his innocent actions such as those of inventing a banana fish. The story of the fish eating the bananas and getting stuck is symbolic of how he views the rest of the world that surrounds him after the war. The world he lives makes him feel that there is no escape route. The only escape he has is death. The Bananafish represents American adults. The only problem however that Seymour had after the war was foolish behavior that isolates him and the rest of the community that leads him to take his precious life.

Applying the psychoanalysis theory; it is conceivable to elucidate the outcome of the hero's psychological state damage that he suffered during the war. The damage had a great toil on his social skills and the capability to fit perfectly with the rest of the society members. Conferring to psychoanalysis theory, the hero's state of mind is layered into three. To the extent that of the conscious level is regarded, Seymour cohabits in an imaginary world. His feelings and thoughts are sorely focused on things such as Bananafish folktales and notions that originates from the mind. Despite that there is no direct textual evidence, the precious level assumes that Seymour subconsciously retrieves all events that are linked with the war in his memory. Thus, the retrieving contributes to his downfall and also to his inability to keep up with the rules and regulations of the world. The unconscious level is the last one is regarded as a reservoir to the hero's memories and feelings which are deemed to be outside of his subconscious awareness. The feelings that are in the reservoir is basically of unpleasant memories which is interconnected with anxiety and emotions of pain from Seymour's damaged past.

As we go over the scene by scene, it is evident that Seymour will not be able to have control over is id which is at an unconscious level. His actions undoubtedly show that war damaged his psyche. His psyche is damaged to the point that his id is the one that is in control. Seymour's superego is failing to act in a morally and socially acceptable way. All these effects are traceable through the conversations held by Seymour and Sybil regarding his strong beliefs that revolved around the Bananafish and Connecticut. At some point in the scene, Seymour tells Sybil about the Bananafish. He states that the Bananfish are fishes who swim in the holes. These fish consume a lot of bananas that get stuck in various holes and die (Nine Stories" 15-17). As Sybil narrates on Connecticut and other kinds of stuff, our hero perceives a kid's mind to be more a comfy zone than his; hence, the connection between the child and the hero gets stronger since Seymour cannot fully understand the society he stays with. The story of the fish eating bananas and getting stuck is symbolic of how he views the rest of the world that surrounds him after war affects him. The world makes him feel that there is no escape route. The only escape he has is death. The Bananafish represents American adults. These adults are the ones that consume the material items. They consume the society's material until they get wedged in the superficial holes or the biosphere which symbolized death to authentic and genuine people. How Seymour perceives the society that surrounds him makes him go nuts. It is genuinely challenging to envision how an individual can transfer his boggling mind, from war to start worrying about the kind of new outfit he should be wearing or is fashionable.

Conclusion

The Bananafish is a representation of a corrupt world. As already mentioned, so many issues led to Seymour taking his own life and the breakdown of his superego. Even though Seymour believed that his psychical state was under control, his experience on Bananafish highlighted an experience of corrupt adulthood. Seymour does not love to be the Bananafish. The idea of not becoming a Bananafish is the one that triggers him to take his precious life to bring to a halt his physical existence of a materialistic society and also inner fighting between his superego and id. Salinger in his short story depicts how Seymour's sense of judgment is the dominant force behind his unusual behavior and not the pleasure principle. The main character for A Perfect Day for Bananafish takes a decision to kill himself because of his unstable mental state. All the actions, dialogue, and comments of the story highlights why Seymour felt that death was the only option he was left with.

Works Cited

Salinger, Jerome David. "A perfect day for bananafish." The New Yorker 31 (1948): 21-25.

Salinger, Jerome David, Rudolf Pellar, and Luba Pellarova. Nine stories. Boston: Little, Brown, 1953.