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    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish
    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish
    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish
    Ebook33 pages26 minutes

    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 21, 2015
    ISBN9781535817004
    A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for J. D. Salinger's A Perfect Day for Bananafish - Gale

      1

      A Perfect Day for Bananafish

      J. D. Salinger

      1948

      Introduction

      A Perfect Day for Bananafish first appeared in the January 31, 1948, issue of the New Yorker and was collected as the first piece in Nine Stories (1953). The story is the first concerning a member of the fictional Glass family Salinger created, whose members figure in much of his work.

      Seymour, the oldest of the Glass children, is Salinger's main character in one of his most elusive pieces of writing. The reader of Bananafish learns that Seymour, a veteran of World War II, has had trouble readjusting to civilian life—an understandable problem that thousands of soldiers had to face. However, his suicide in the story's final paragraph shocks most readers and then leaves them scratching their heads, trying to understand why, exactly, Seymour pulled the trigger.

      This apparent lack of motive is at the heart of the critical debate on the story. Some readers find Seymour's wife, Muriel, partially to blame, as her self-interest seems to overshadow what should be her wifely concern for her troubled husband. Others view Seymour as something of a guru, a man wise enough to know that his world can only corrupt him and who, therefore, escapes from it. Also plausible is the idea that Seymour is like the bananafish he describes: a man so glutted (with horror or pleasure) that he can no longer survive. Multiple interpretations are possible, which makes the story's meaning ripe for debate, a much-disputed point for both professional critics and casual fans. Regardless of what specific motive a reader assigns to Seymour's suicide, he or she is sure to be involved in Salinger's elaborate game of symbols, colors, and other indirect means of storytelling.

      Author Biography

      Jerome David Salinger was born in New York City on New Year's Day, 1919. His father, Solomon, was a Jewish cheese importer who hoped that his son would eventually learn his business; his mother, Marie

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