Character Development

In all three Salanger stories, he has developed the characters so that they are similar to the characters in his other stories. In "It's a Perfect Day for Bannanfish", Seymour is a mysterious young man who has PDSD from his experiences in the war. Sybil is a young, adventurous, and creative girl. Muriel is an obnoxious, selfabsorbed, woman who love Seymour. In this story Muriel and Sybil are both affected by Seymours war experience because, for Muriel, she loses her husband when he shoots himself, and he treats Sybil strangely at the beach when he kisses her foot. It is likely that Seymour would not have done either of these things is he did not have the war dragging him down. In "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut", Walt is this guy who died in the war and has a very strange sense of humor. Eloise loved Walt very much, but has moved on and is now unhappily married. Eloise is affected by Walt's war experiences because he died, and without him she is unhappy. Eloise's husband is also affected by the death of Walt because it means that his wife will never be totally okay again. It's almost like Eloise has PDSD from the fact that she lost the love of her life. In "Just Before the War with the Eskimos", Ginnie's sister who, according to franklin, is annoying, and full of herself, is marrying a Lietenant Commander in the Navy. She is affected because he could die, and Franklin is affected because he still has feelings for Selena's sister.

There is always a man in the war, and two people who are somehow affected by this.

Young Women

A reoccurring focus by J.D Salinger in all three of his short stories is that most of his characters are younger women who have encountered issues in their personal lives. In Bananafish, Muriel is the young woman who was recently married and she encounters the issue of her husband's mental issue, which eventually leads to her being widowed at a young age. In Uncle Wiggily, although Eloise has a young daughter, the story focuses a lot on her past and her younger years when she was in love with Walt and how she encountered the issue of his death in the novel. In War With the Eskimos, Ginnie is confronted with the issue of confronting a "friend" about her economic issues and how they need to share the cost of the taxi. Just as Muriel and Eloise had men involved in their stories, Ginnie also seems very interested in Selena's brother, which may have taken her mind off of the money. In all of Salinger's short stories so far, we have seen young women who have been encountered with personal issues, all of which have included men.

End.

A pattern I have begun to notice in Salinger's stories is that while they bring up many unfinished points to wonder at throughout the story, the last line is generally the most curious or mysterious in the whole thing. The last line leaves you wondering, "Why did the character do that?". To serve as examples, the last line in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is, "Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple.". The last line of "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" is, "'I was a nice girl,' she pleaded, 'wasn't I?'". Finally, the last line of "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" is, "A few years before, it had taken her three days to dispose of the Easter chick she had found dead on the sawdust in the bottom of her wastebasket.". These final lines really make you question what the story was actually about, and who the characters really are. It makes you wonder what their motives were in doing exactly what was proclaimed in the last line, and almost forces you to imagine deep into the past of the characters. This is part of what is so curious about these stories. Salinger provides some of the story, but the rest is left to be interpreted by the reader.

How to Give Advice People Won't Take & Other Similarities

In both "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", J.D. Salinger has a character who he never refers to by name, but rather reveals their name through the dialogue of his other characters.  They are also called "boy" and "girl", even though they are both presumably old enough to be considered man and woman. Franklin in "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" is only referred to as "Selena's brother" until Eric arrives and asks Ginnie if she's seen him.  Franklin is also described as "the funniest-looking boy" even though we are told he is twenty-four (Salinger 63).  In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", Muriel is continuously called girl by Salinger, and we only know her name because her mother says it.  We also find out that Muriel is married, which makes it strange that she should be referred to as "girl".  In both "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" and "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", there are characters who drop out of college.  Eloise and Mary Jane both dropped out during their sophomore year, and Franklin quit as well, though we are not told when.  Another connection between these two stories is a camel's-hair coat.  "Eloise turned up the collar on her camel's-hair coat," shows that Eloise had one in "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" and Eric comments on Ginnie's coat by saying "It's the first really good camel's-hair [he's] seen since the war," in "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" (Salinger 27, 77).  "A Perfect Day for Bananfish" and "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" both have characters who try to help a friend or relative with their problem.  In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", Eloise talks about her old boyfriend, Walt, even though she is currently married to Lew.  While Eloise is talking about how funny Walt was, Mary Jane says "Doesn't Lew have a sense of humor?" (Salinger 42) She is trying to convince Eloise that her current husband is a good man, even though Eloise does not seem to like him.  Muriel's mother from "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" tries to warn Muriel that her husband, Seymour, "may completely lose control of himself." (Salinger 9) Although Muriel ignores this, Seymour does end up killing himself at the end of the story.  One of the largest connections between all three stories is the time period. They are all focused around World War II in some way.  In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", Seymour's PTSD is a major component of the story. In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", Eloise loses her boyfriend to the war.  In "Just Before the War with the Eskimos", Franklin mentions that he could not be drafted for the army because he has a heart problem resulting from rheumatic fever during his childhood.  All three of the Salinger stories that we have read are connected in various different ways.

I've noticed a few patterns: ankles, war veterans, failed relationships, and camel hair coats.

Failed Relationships

One central theme in all three of the short stories is failed romantic relationships. In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," the relationship between Seymour and Muriel is slightly short of a success, given that Seymour kills himself. In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," Walt, the man Eloise loves, dies, and Eloise therefore marries Lew, a man she does not love and has no respect for, and this marriage makes her miserable. Mary Jane also has bad luck with marriage, as she is married to a soldier for all of three months, during which time he gets in jail for stabbing another man. Even Ramona doesn't do to well with relationships. Jimmy Jimmereeno gets "runned over" and then Eloise forces Ramona to kill Mickey Mickeranno by making her roll onto him. In "Just Before the War with the Eskimos," Franklin tries to start a relationship with Joan, but she completely ignores him when he sends her letters. In all three short stories, relationships end in dismal failure.

Imaginative Children and High Maintenance Wives

In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", we meet Sybil, who is a highly imaginative little girl. For example, when Seymour tells her the tale of the bananafish, she immediately claims to have seen one, and even gives details to back it up. "Did he [the bananfish] have any bananas in his mouth?" Seymour asks, and Sybil replies, "Yes. Six." (Salinger 24) In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", we meet Ramona, another extremely imaginative child. She has several imaginary friends, and believes in them so strongly that she sleeps on the far side of her bed at night to avoid hurting them. In "Just Before the War with the Eskimos", Franklin also seems like an imaginative individual, and while he is technically an adult, there is a childlike quality about him that is similar to the quirkiness shared by Sybil and Ramona. Another reoccurring theme in the three stories is that of high maintenance wives. In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", Muriel comes off as somewhat vain, and seems to enjoy being pampered. Eloise from "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" is even more high maintenance. She complains about her life, including her husband's incompetence and her daughter's strangeness, and grieves over her college boyfriend Walt. Also, in "Just Before the War with the Eskimos", Serena says that her mother is sick with pneumonia and must not be disturbed. Thus, these two themes, high maintenance women and quirky and creative children, seem to come up frequently in Salinger's work.

Are Ankles and War Related?

In the first three stories of J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories, ankles and war stories are always brought up, usually related in some way. In "A Perfect Day For Bananafish", Seymour suffers from PTSD after fighting in the war. When he and Sybil are on the beach together, he grabs ahold of her ankles several times. This could possibly be as a result of the war. Maybe he lost one of his legs and cherishes ankles. Maybe he just likes ankles. In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", Eloise falls in front of her boyfriend, Walt, hurting her ankle. Walt, who ends up dying in the war, uses the term "Poor Uncle Wiggily" to refer to her ankle. Whenever Eloise thinks about Walt or her ankle, her memories are tainted with the poison of war and the death of Walt. Finally, in "Just Before the War with the Eskimos", Franklin seems to scratch areas of his body throughout the whole story. However, his favorite place to scratch seems to be his ankles, as it is mentioned several times. Not only that, but it only mentions Franklin's ankles when he and Ginnie are talking about her sister, a girl who Frankly clearly had feelings for despite calling her snobby. What makes this so interesting is that Joan (Ginnie's sister) is now engaged to a Lieutenant commander in the Navy who is fighting in the war. He scratches his ankles several times while talking about Joan and the war. In Salinger's first three stories, ankles and war seem to go hand in hand.

BannaFish

Does the constant use of numbers have a greater significance? Is Seymour a bannanafish, and all the girls at the hotel bannanas?

Banana Fish

Why does Muriel use "dear" so much when talking to her mother, it seems derogatory?
Is it possible that Seymour has the post dramatic stress disorder from the war causing him to act so profoundly?

Bananafish Questions, Cowper

Salinger mentions a blue coat in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", does this have any connection to the blue coat worn by Holden Caulfield's sister?

What is it that finally pushes Seymour over the edge??

Bananafish Questions

Does Sybil's repeated questions about "the glass" have anything to do with the fact that Seymour's wife's name is Mrs. Glass? Was Seymour disturbed before the war, or was being at war a turning point in his personality?

BannanaPhone

Could the incident with the trees as well as Seymour's passion with feet be related to PTSD?

Could his suicide be related to the last step of the Koan, realizing he can no longer grasp his sanity after the incident in the elevator, and that he must instead let himself go, before coming something that he cannot control? 

Bananafish Questions

How is the relationship between Muriel and her mother affected by Seymour's problems?

Was Seymour's kissing Sibyl's foot related to his sudden anger at a woman staring at his feet?

Bananafish Questions

1. Why does Sybil claim she saw a bananafish after she and Seymour were hit by a wave?
2. Is Seymour's description of the manner in which the bananafish gets trapped and dies based on the Koan about the goose in a bottle, and, if so, why did Salinger base the bananafish off of this Koan?