DQ 10 - Salinger's Nine Stories - A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut, and The Laughing Man
Due Wednesday (DQs Tuesday night) is to begin reading J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories. The first half that we'll be covering Wednesday is: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," and "The Laughing Man". Destiny Day will lead discussion. I think you'll really enjoy these short stories, so please give them a thorough read.
Isaac Bendus
ReplyDelete7/18/17
While reading “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger, it left me with one question. Why does the girl’s mother act so protective of her and seem so worried? What happened in the past for her to act this way? Is Seymour a bad influence on her? Or is the mother just being overprotective?
While reading “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” I was wondering what Salinger’s motivation was to write this short story? In my opinion most of the story is two women talking about their past and times together. Why did Salinger find it important to tell this story?
In the story “ A Perfect Day for Bananafish, “ I noticed that when addressing the main character ( a girl named Muriel, ) the author never directly said her name. The only reason we know the main characters name is due to dialogue of a phone call between her and her mother where the name is mentioned. The author would only write “ the girl “ when addressing Muriel in the story. Do you think the author did this to convey a mysterious and peculiar feel to the main character? Or for some other purpose?
ReplyDeleteIn the story “ The Laughing Man, “ JD Salinger writes a description of the accomplishments of the Chief, John Gedsudki. This comes before the physical description of what the Chief looks like. When you read the list of his accomplishments, did his physical description match what you imagined him to look like in your head? Or were you surprised about what he looked like?
Lauren Fiorito
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
Why did Seymour kill himself in the end if the day was going so perfect? Do you think he had PTSD from the war and that’s why they thought it was a “crime” for him to be released from the hospital so early? And is that why Muriel’s mom was asking her so many times if she was ok and if she talked to psychiatrist. Also, what was the purpose of the motif of trees?
Another question is what was the significance of the German book that Muriel and her mother were talking about? And why did her husband call her “Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948” and what did he call her before?
Sean Butler
ReplyDeleteMy first question on “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is why was Sybil’s mom so worried about her? Was Salinger trying to get the audience wondering? She keeps interrupting her mother as if she’s trying to avoid talking to her about certain things.
Secondly, what condition does Seymour have? Why doesn’t he ever want to take his bathrobe off? And why does he want to look for bananafish? I feel as if the bananafish has a symbolic meaning.
Keagan Giblin
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
In J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” Seymour, a WWII patriot, explains to Sybil a young child what bananafish are. He explains that they are fish that go into a hole and eat so many bananas that they become to fat to get out of the hole and ultimately die. Does this relate to the after-shock of war that the soldier feels? Almost like the soldiers are the bananafishes and once they enter the war, or hole, they are never the same. Does this bananafish story then help explain why Seymour ends up killing himself?
In J.D. Salinger’s “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” is it significant that Eloise’s daughter, Ramona, has an imaginary friend? If so, does he symbolize something?
Brieanna Graves
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
My first question is from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” specifically the title itself. With a little research I found that bananafish is a metaphor for the post war American consumer society. What are your thoughts on this title choice?
My second question also comes from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”. How did you interpret the quote “she was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing? She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty?” Personally I would say it related to ignorance, but I wanted to see if you’d agree.
I have a lot of questions after reading "a perfect day for banana fish", the main two are
ReplyDelete1) why does he shoot himself? could he be mentally unstable from war?
2) what is the significance of the relationship between him and the little girl?
1. After reading “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” I had a hard time clearly understanding the meaning behind the banana fish going into the holes and eating so many bananas they die. I believe it is a metaphor for how Seymour feels, due to how he reaches the room with his wife and he shoots himself. So my question is, who is the fish and what is the banana within the context of the story? Could he be the banana and his wife the fish? She has had too much of him that when she is napping in the room Seymour’s disillusions cause him to believe she is dead causing himself to take his own life too?
ReplyDelete2. After reading “the Laughing Man” I questioned why Mary breaks up with the Chief. I analyzed the text where Mary is watching the baseball game and sitting between the two nursemaids with baby carriages, could it be possible that the reason behind Mary breaking up with the Chief is because she is pregnant? I noticed innocence tends to be a theme within the text, could Chief’s innocence and him not hanging around people his age other than Mary be the motivation for her leaving him because she doesn’t think he is mentally ready for that responsibility?
3. I also had another question about “the Laughing Man.” In the beginning of the story the narrator tells the audience that both the Chief and the Laughing Man both have unflattering or unattractive faces and at the end of the story the narrator says that he saw a “piece of red tissue paper floating in the wind against the base of a lamppost. It looked like someone’s poppy-petal mask.” Could it be possible that this imagery of the mask is a representation that innocence has been lost for both The Chief and the Laughing Man and they no longer have a mask (Mary and the Comanches) to hide behind in order to protect their innocence?
Daniella Alamo
ReplyDeleteIn " A Perfect Day for Bananafish", Seymour has reterned from war and his wife Muriel is worried about him because he has been acting strange. In the end of the story, Seymour commits suicide. What was the reasoning for him to do so? Was it PTSD? If Muriel was so worried about him why didn’t she do something more then just call her mother?
In the story "Uncle Wiggly In Connecticut", Eloise tells the story of Walt Glass, the man she loved. She recounts how he died in an accident and later Ramona, her daughter, says that her imaginary friend died in a accident while she was playing outside. Is there a connection between the two accidental deaths? What is the significance of the imaginary friend dying?
Kylie Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
The first question I had while immediately reading "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" was why was the girl's mother so persistent on asking how the boy drove after the girl said like three times he drove nicely? Was it because she was being overprotective or did she have a bad feeling about the boy?
The second question I have is what everyone else is really asking, why did he kill himself? Was he suicidal or PTSD? The day was fine indeed but PTSD makes people sometimes act insane so I'm thinking it's probably that.
July 18th 2017
ReplyDeleteIn, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” I don’t understand the significance of bananfish, because it clearly is very important if it's in the title of the story. I wonder why Seymour wants Sybil to look for bananafish in the first place. Could it be that Seymour is relating all the veterans to a fish that he is making up? The hole could maybe be a symbol of how the war was, because as soon as they go into war they never really come out. War is something that the veterans will never forget.
My second question is also about “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”. When Sybil says, “see more glass” what does she mean by this? Sybil must say this a lot because Mrs. Carpenter answers and tells Sybil to, “stop saying that”. I know it has to do with Seymour I just don’t understand exactly how it relates to him.
Isabeau Cordes
ReplyDelete07/18/17
1. I was very confused by the story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, mostly by the behavior of Seymour. Why does he act so strangely towards Muriel, giving her a German poetry book, and calling her “Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948”, as well as not seeming to spend a lot of time with her? From the phone call Muriel had with her mother it seems as though she is very into Seymour but he act weird and distant, is this all as a result of the war?
2. My second question is also about “A Perfect Day for Bananafish. What is the purpose of these made up suicidal fish? Are they meant to represent Seymour, or something more broad like the after effects of war in general or society?
Ethan Vaughan 7/18
ReplyDelete1. Why are Muriel's mom and dad so nervous about Seymour's mental health? Why do they choose not to voice their concerns to Muriel? Are they afraid that she will push them away and choose to believe the best about her husband?
2. What does the bananafish symbolize in the story? Why is Seymour obsessed with with finding the bananafish? Could it symbolize humanity and the fact that it was lost after the war and needs to be found?
Julia Weisberg
ReplyDelete7-18-17
The first questions that I have is about “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”. I wondered what the significance of Sybil was. As a child I wonder if Seymour relates more to her more? Children do not judge like adults do so does Seymour just feel more comfortable around Sybil because of the fact that she does not judge his condition?
The second I have is from “The Laughing Man”. Is the laughing man supposed to parallel the chiefs life because during the story they seemed to share many similarities? They both feel the same way about society and they both are unlike other people their age. When the chief tells the story is he really just talking about his life?
Kevin Clifford
ReplyDelete7/18/17
1. My first question from this reading is Seymour’s conversation with Sybil about the Bananafish. He said they eat so many bananas that they can’t leave their whole and eventually die. Is this a foreshadow into Seymour’s life, and a symbol of war veterans not adjusting back into every day life?
2. My second question is why is Muriel’s mom so anxious about her hanging out with Seymour? Most adults don't call their adult kids to tell them they are nervous that they are with their significant other. Is he that messed up in the head that she is scared for Muriel’s Safety?
Kylie Simmons
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
After reading "A perfect day for bananafish," I was extremely taken back at the ending when the man killed himself. I really enjoyed the story until the ending. Why did the man kill himself? Was he mentally unstable from the war? Or what caused him to make this decision?
My second question is why weren't the readers given information about what "bananafish" really represented? I didn't understand the story completely until I read further on what "bananafish" were a metaphor for.
While reading “A Perfect Day for Banana Fish” I had some questions come to mind. Seymour tells the story of how the banana fish eat so many bananas that they eventually become stuck. They then catch a fever and die. This is a weird story and I am not sure what it is meant for. Does this story have any relation to Seymour or Sybil?
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the story, Seymour unexpectedly takes a gun to his head and kills himself. We know that he had recently gotten back form fighting overseas. Is there a reason that he killed himself, could it be related to him having problems getting situated back to normal life?
Karina Amalbert
ReplyDeleteMy personal favorite short story had to be “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” as it left me with many questions. First and foremost, the play on words with the title and the actual actions that happened in the short story. The title claims it’s a perfect day for bananafish but according to the story those type of fishes become trapped and end up dying due to temptation. Also at the end of the story the young man committed suicide possibly also due to his fall into temptation or maybe PTSD?
Another question from this short story was the beginning where it described the wife in great luxury but continued to describe her life in not so much of a great light. Would it be possible to call their marriage/life a “walking on eggshells” metaphor?
Carolyn Collins
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
In J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, Muriel’s mother calls her and seems very concerned for her. The mother asks Muriel if the man Muriel drove with tried any funny business with the trees. What does she mean exactly? What did Seymour do with the trees while he was driving? It must have been something very dangerous because Muriel’s mother was really upset when Muriel told her Seymour drove her. At the end of the story, Seymour commits suicide. Since Muriel’s parents were so worried with her being with Seymour, to what extent did they know about his mental health issues? If they knew how recklessly Seymour drove, they would have probably assumed he didn't care about his well-being.
my first question is about '' a perfect day for bananafish''. when the author describes the girl as someone who wouldn't drop anything for a ringing phone, does the author describe her this way for a reason or is it simply a characteristic of the character?
ReplyDeletemy second question is also in regards to '' a perfect day for bananafish'' . why does the girls mother say she was worried to death about her? is it because she is a paranoi or is it simply to show us how much her mother cares, also I would like to know if there are other reasons besides the massive influx of calls that could have caused her to call so late?
Parker mealey
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
1. In JD Salingers "A perfect day for Bananafish," there seems to be some sort of tension between the mother and her daughter from the very beginning of the story. In their conversation, either the mom is interrupting the daughter, or the daughter is interrupting the mom, the entire time. My question is, why are the two characters ok with interrupting each other this much?
2. Something that I thought was interesting in "The Laughing Man" was the fact that the narrator liked to imagine that he was the Laughing Man's only direct descendant: "I was not even my parents' son in 1928 but a devilishly smooth impostor, awaiting their slightest blunder as an excuse to move in." My question is, why would the narrator want to be associated with a criminal who steals, murders, and is generally evil?
Anthony Duarte
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
As I was reading “A Perfect Day For Bananafish” I was wondering why Seymour was so far from the hotel and also away from his wife for the majority of the day yet she thought that he was okay? Did she genuinely believe that he was okay or was she just in denial?
Another question I have relates to when Seymour was at the beach with Sybil and he talks to her about the bananafish. He explains how they go into a hole and eat so many bananas and are not able to get out which basically means that they caused their own death. Do you think Seymour says this to foreshadow his death or just as a way of coping with the feelings he is going through?
After reading "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," it left me with a few questions and a bit of confusion. Why do you think Seymour killed himself? Could it be PTSD from the war? And why was he flirting with such a young girl?
ReplyDeleteMy other question is what has seymor done to keep the mother so worried about the girl. Has he shown any suicidal thoughts? What is it that has the family so worried and why isn't the girl worried at all? And why is the title so happy and "perfect" when seymour kills himself in the end?
Alexandra Liggett
ReplyDelete7/18/17
1) After reading "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", I was left wondering why Seymour killed himself? Salinger never gives a direct reason or explanation for it.
2) Something that interested me after reading "The Laughing Man" was that The Laughing Man was shot 4 times but manage to survive it. Why does Salinger choose to kill him off at the end of the story? Is it because his pet, the only person who truly accepted him for what he was, died?What is the significance of this?
Olivia Longshore
ReplyDeleteIn “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” in J.D Salinger’s Nine Stories, i noticed that the protective behavior of the mother over the girl was almost alarming. Is Salinger using subject ambiguity by not specifically mentioning why the mother is so protective and concerned? Or is it just a display of mothers intuition?
While reading “The Laughing Man,” in J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories, i was left with the question of is Mary pregnant? And if Mary is pregnant, is it chiefs baby? Mary broke up with Chief abruptly so maybe she does not believe that he is ready to be a father, or maybe the baby is not his.
Tyler Crane
ReplyDeleteJuly 18, 2017
In Salingers, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", it seems to me that Seymour is suffering from PTSD. It doesn't explicitly state what happened to Seymour while he was at war, but Salinger shows the after affects. Why does Salinger not state what happened to Seymour at war?
What exactly was the role of the Bananfish in the short story? it also makes me think of PTSD. Seymour states that the normal bananafish goes into a hole to eat bananas, but then eats to much and gets stuck there forever. This reminds me of a normal person going to war, but the things that happen at war "get stuck" in the persons mind. is this the significance of the bananafish?
In the very first short story, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Salinger starts out by giving a deep description of what the girl named Muriel is doing. He goes into vivid detail of all that she does before answering the phone, Why does he feel the need to incorporate these details and then not mention the girl again until the very end? I feel that they are kind of pointless to the story, why does he not begin with the phone call? What does this description serve?
ReplyDeleteDoes the young man, Seymour, have PTSD? The mother kind of indicates this by constantly asking the girl if Seymour has been acting strange and to be on the watch for his behavior. Then she goes into asking about the Psychiatrist and his opinion of Seymour’s behavior. At the end I feel like he kills himself because of PTSD but I could be wrong, so if I am wrong why did he kill himself?
The "Perfect Day For Bananafish" story began with Muriel. Muriel and her mother engage in a conversation where the reader learns that Seymour was discharged from the army. other stories we've read in class the veteran or soldier told his story, why do you think Mr. Salinger allowed Muriel's mother to expose Seymour's discharge? why do you think the author killed off the laughing man within the story? what was the significance of the red tissue paper at the end of "The Laughing Man"? Throughout each short story we were assigned to read a character in the story has died. Does the deaths of the characters have anything to do with J.D. Salinger's personal life?
ReplyDeleteEvan Smyser
ReplyDeleteJuly 18,2017
In the beginning of J.D. Salinger's short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," Muriel's mother seems to be extremely alarmed about the well-being of her child. I know that this may be a natural motherly instinct; however, it seems excessive at some times. Why does she have this severe anxiety this early on?
Evan Smyser
DeleteThe people that surrounded Seymour knew that he had some sort of mental issue, specifically PTSD from the war. Suicide rates among veterans are high across the world. More work has been done in hopes of lowering these high rates. Was Seymour's ultimate fate suicide, or would there have been a different outcome if he received more intensive care?
In 'A perfect day for Bananafish" why does the man behave so (relatively) normally in the story if it were not for the phone call in the beginning and his outburst on the elevator the reader really could not tell anything is wrong with him at all; is that the point that sometimes the mental ailments that people bear are not always visible to the people around them?
ReplyDeleteIs there any significance to the story the young man tells about bananafish in "A perfect day for Bananafish" or is it to show his disconnect to reality or is he simply telling the girl a story to the girl to entertain her.
How is JD Salinger's writing similar to that of Hemingway's Writing? In the documentery it said that Hemingway was a big influence on Salinger. How was Hemingway's writing reflected in Salinger's? What similarities and what differences are there?
ReplyDeleteWhy does Teddy seem to ignore his father every time he asks him o get off the bag? Do you think Teddy has no respect for his father, or does his father really even care about the bag and teddy knows this he continues to stand on the bag?
Brieanna Graves
ReplyDelete7-19-17
My first question relates to the theme of Teddy by J. D. Salinger. Personally I feel as if Mr. Mcardle is obsessed with a Leica. In your opinion, do you agree or disagree with me and if you disagree how come?
My second question also relates to the text called Teddy by J.D. Salinger specifically a quote. The quote is “You treat her like a blooming' criminal.” How did you interpret this quote?