![]() ![]() Salinger usesthe name “Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948” (cite) not only to provide us with the setting, but alsouses analogies to describe Muriel. Muriel tells her mother that Seymour calls her “Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948,” (cite),and despite the resentment her mother has for that name, Muriel finds it amusing. She doesn’tinclude what the psychiatrist says, but she includes what his wife was wearing, which furthersthe materialistic value we see in Muriel. Where Muriel’s mother and father were seeing aphysiologist about Seymour, Muriel talks to one who frequents the bar she visits. Salinger uses this conversationto further build the reader’s view on Muriel. As Muriel’s mother is seeming either overprotective, or overdramatic, Muriel, on theother hand, seems to be too nonchalant naive about the situation. ![]() Salingeralludes to Seymour having problems after returning from the War, such as crashing Muriel’sfather’s car, his nicknames for Muriel, and the “horrible” things he said and did to Muriel’sgrandmother, and him, according to Muriel’s mother, being prematurely released from thehospital. Through the phone conversation between MurielĪbon 2and her mother, the readers are given the first glimpse into the young Glass family. She is depicted as “…a girl who for aphone ringing dropped exactly nothing.” (cite). Salinger uses Murielpainting her nails as one of the first glimpse into her personality, as she doesn’t stop to pick up acall she had been waiting for almost two and a half hours. Salinger begins the short story with Muriel Glass, Seymour’s wife. Through the ideas of social standards, materialism, andwhat is hinted at the negligence of one’s mental well-being, Salinger shows us the tragicoutcome of someone who was suffering through post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D) fromthe war and, despite horrors Seymour might have witnessed, the society around him was still, ifnot more, materialistic and vain. ![]() Through the different interactionsSeymour has between both children and adults, Salinger shows us how traumatic events canchange the way someone looks at the world, and how it opened Seymour’s eyes to the truthabout the vanity and greed around him. Salinger uses dialogue and creativedescriptions to form a narrative of Seymour, a veteran in World War II, and Muriel, a self-absorbed woman, and the events leading to his tragic suicide. Salinger’s short story, “A Perfect Dayfor Bannafish”, addresses the materialism of that generation by revealing the life of Seymour andMuriel Glass, a married couple on vacation in Florida. As companies create advertisementsthat draw a consumer’s eyes, the materialism swells as society “…behave(s) like pigs”, asSalinger put it, buying products to suit their vanity. But who defines what style is ‘in’? Why are there more advertisements about makeup andshoes, but not enough about helping those in poverty, or about pollution? Many people blamesociety, but society is, unfortunately, the people of that era. Abon 1 Bananafish The society someone lives in, both present and past, is fueled by a consumer mentality.Nobody can walk down the street without an ad describing what to buy, what to wear, or how tolook. ![]()
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