The effects of word picture and the near-comic scenes on the self-destruction in A perfect twenty-four hours for bananafish: The grounds for my holding to the claim made by Wagner-Martin stating that Salingers narrative of the damaged World War II veteran Seymour Glass gave readers everything they needed to understand its characters, but in the near-comic scenes that bore small relationship to the tragic self-destruction that closed the narrative ‘ will be discussed in this essay on ‘A perfect twenty-four hours for bananafish ‘ . We will be looking at the forming and description of the characters, their reaction and interaction with each other and what consequence this has on the chief characters determination on self-destruction. We will besides be discoursing the manner that the near-comic scenes have small cause on the concluding result.

Jarome David Salinger was born on the First twenty-four hours of January 1919 in Manhattan, New York. His celebrity started in 1940 when he began printing short narratives, after which we enlisted and served in World War II. Upon his return Salinger wrote a fresh ‘The Catcher in the Rye ‘ in 1951. Readers will happen the narrative ‘A perfect twenty-four hours for bananafish ‘ by J.D. Salinger a spot bewildering after the first clip they read it and will merely happen significance and some accounts in the 2nd clip they read it.

In the first clip we read the narrative we get the feeling that Muriel is in some ways the victim in this matrimony with Seymour Glass by looking at the treatment were Muriel ‘s female parent asks her how it was traveling, and told her to come back place. She besides emphasises the fact that they ( Muriel ‘s parents ) do non believe that Seymour is really limpid after his return from World War II. There has been incidents that do turn out the parents comments like ‘ [ vitamin D ] Idaho he try any of that amusing concern with the trees ‘ ( Bananafish 86 ) and Seymour naming his married woman ‘Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948 ‘ ( Bananafish 87 ) . The reference of both head-shrinkers Dr. Sivetski and the other one in the Hotel saloon Tells us that there is concern from both sides for Seymour ‘s emotional and mental wellness.

While Muriel has the conversation with her female parent over the phone, Seymour is on the beach with a immature miss called Sybil. Sybil Carpenter ‘s name has a sense of sanctity about it and this is drawn through with the verification of her immature age in the phrase ‘ [ s ] he was have oning a canary-yellow two piece bathing suit, one piece of which she would non really be necessitating for another nine or ten old ages ‘ . This besides emphasises the artlessness of the immature miss. Sybil ‘s female parent Mrs. Carpenter is portrayed as a lovingness female parent when she put the sun-tan oil on her girl, but the consequence is rapidly changed when she tells her girl she will be in the saloon holding a Martini and go forthing her girl entirely on the beach.

Sybil and Seymour have formed a close friendly relationship as Sybil keeps stating Seymour, ‘see more glass? ‘ ( Bananafish 91 ) which tells us that they are quit acquainted. The fact that Seymour was waiting for Sybil to travel into the H2O with Tells us that there is a tight bond, but when Seymour calls Sybil ‘baby ‘ ( Bananafish 91 ) our ideas tend to switch. We start to inquire about the existent agencies of the relationship when we look at Seymour ‘s behavior where he tells her ‘you ‘re looking mulct ‘ ( Bananafish 92 ) and so once more where: ‘ [ H ] vitamin E took Sybil ‘s mortise joints in his custodies ‘ ( Bananafish 95 ) but eventually when he ‘picked up one of Sybil ‘s wet pess, which were saging over the terminal of the float, and kissed the arch ‘ ( Bananafish 95 ) .

After the beach scene when Seymour heads back to the room he shows some ground for the concerns about his outlook when he gets in to the lift and so gets verbal with a adult female in the auto when she seemingly looks at his pess. He so gets off on the 5th floor and caputs into the room, he looks at his married woman kiping on the one twin bed. He so goes towards one of the pieces of luggage and takes out a gun ; he goes to sit on the other twin bed and looks at his married woman once more. The fact that there is a gun in one of the pieces of baggage Tells us that this might hold been planned, when looks at his married woman a 2nd clip with the gun in his manus we think that he might kill his married woman.

After reading the terminal and reading the narrative for the 2nd clip, we find that Seymour is seen as the new victim. Thus his name can be seen as ‘see more glass ‘ ( Bananfish 90 ) , mentioning to him seeing and experiencing comfy with the artlessness of the kids and glass being how fragile he is at the minute. He is married to a mercenary adult female, who merely sits and pigments her nails and negotiations on the phone, and she has no involvement in her hubby or his involvements, this is revealed in the text where Muriel asks her female parent ‘ [ Y ] ou retrieve that book he sent me from Germany? You know ‘ those German verse forms. What ‘d I do with it? ‘ ( Bananafish 87 ) . The actions of her parents besides contribute to the deficiency of concern towards her hubby ‘s well being and after her female parent asked her to return she answers by stating: ‘I merely got here, Mother. This is the first holiday I ‘ve had in old ages and I ‘m non traveling to merely pack everything and come place ‘ ( Bananafish 88 ) .

Second if we look at the relationship between Seymour and Sybil we find that he is attracted to her artlessness and longs for more, instead than holding a sexual attractive force towards her. After the atrocious visions and actions of the War it is apprehensible that Seymour longs for artlessness and felicity, he finds this in the company of Sybil. He makes a gag about Sybil ‘s bathing suit being bluish alternatively of yellow, holding the bluish mentioning to her artlessness and freedom of like the bluish ocean. Snoging her pess may now be seen in a sense of worship and esteem. The coloring material blue besides comes frontward in him and his married woman Muriel, were he is have oning a royal blue swim bole and his married woman Muriel had removed some of the cushioning from her bluish coat demoing how she losingss her artlessness.

The narrative of the bananafish can be of Seymour ‘s ain life, him being the fish and the banana ‘s being all the unhappiness and play maintaining him in his depression. Even though the narrative is in some facets linked to tragedy and his life it is still humours to believe of fish eating bananas and deceasing in a whole because they are stuck. We can happen more temper in the scene where Seymour accuses the lady in the lift of starring at his pess and him explicating that he has two normal pess. The choler can be caused by the fact that he feels that she is doing alibis alternatively of merely acknowledging that she was looking at his pess. This is seen as such a simple thing to acquire worked-up over, and every bit shortly as she gets off the lift he continues as if nil happened by inquiring the miss in the lift to press the button for the 5th floor.

In the concluding scene were Seymour enters the room he merely takes out the gun and shoots himself, which tells us that this was pre-planned because no normal individual would take a gun along on a holiday. The statement we can do at the terminal of the 2nd reading is that Seymour does n’t worry about the consequence his self-destruction will hold on his married woman, due to the fact that he does n’t wake her or go forth a missive. Merely as the reader is confused and unsure of the grounds for the self-destruction, Seymour ‘s married woman Muriel will besides be confused and diffident. Now the reader and Muriel might hold an thought of how Seymour felt after the War seeing all the immorality and holding to look farther for the artlessness.

In the terminal we can state that Salinger ‘s description of the characters have a large portion to play in the apprehension of Seymour ‘s state of affairs and point of position, by looking at the artlessness of kids and the guilt of the grownups and enemy. Looking at his married woman Muriel one would reason that there is no ground for him to remain with person who does non care or portion the same involvements as him. He finds comfort in the immature kids that are guiltless and pure of bosom. The near-comic or humours scenes prior to the self-destruction has small consequence on the terminal consequence in the narrative, although the narrative of the bananafish can be seen as an account of Seymour ‘s present life and emotion the reader can do no immediate association.

Seymour takes his ain life because he ca n’t stand to see all the dross any longer, and he is excessively delicate to maintain traveling and non be affected. The fright of stoping up like the bananafish might hold made him take the concluding measure. Wagner-Martin ‘s claim stands to be right stating that the characters are described good plenty for the reader to understand the narrative and the consequence of each character, but the near-comic scenes has no consequence on the reader the first clip merely in the 2nd clip can the association be made towards the bananafish and Seymour.

Wordss: 1585

Bibliographies:

Salinger, J.D. ‘A perfect twenty-four hours for bananafish. ‘ Bananafish Braai: Selected Narratives. Ed. Rob Gaylard. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University and African Sun Media, 2010. 83-96

‘Salinger, J.D. ‘ Wikipedia: The free Encyclopaedia. 2001. Wikipedia. 15 March 2010 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=J._D._Salinger & A ; dir=prev & A ; action=history & gt ;