A Perfect Day for Bananafish

E1007608

A Perfect Day for Bananafish is a seminal short story by J.D. Salinger that introduces Seymour Glass and explores themes of postwar trauma, innocence, and alienation.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf short story
author J. D. Salinger NERFINISHED
collectedIn For Esmé—with Love and Squalor, and Other Stories (UK edition of Nine Stories) NERFINISHED
Nine Stories NERFINISHED
containsSymbol bananafish
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReputation one of Salinger’s most acclaimed short stories
seminal work of J. D. Salinger
endingType tragic ending
featuresCharacter Muriel Glass NERFINISHED
Seymour Glass NERFINISHED
Sybil Carpenter NERFINISHED
firstPublicationYear 1948
firstPublishedIn The New Yorker NERFINISHED
genre literary fiction
short fiction
hasDialogueBetween Muriel Glass and her mother
Seymour Glass and Sybil Carpenter NERFINISHED
hasSubject childhood innocence contrasted with adult corruption
consumer culture
veteran’s mental health
influenced later depictions of postwar alienation in American fiction
language English
literaryMovement postwar American literature
mainCharacter Muriel Glass NERFINISHED
Seymour Glass NERFINISHED
Sybil Carpenter NERFINISHED
narrativePerspective third-person narration
notableFor exploration of psychological effects of war
introduction of Seymour Glass
use of understated dialogue
originalTitle A Perfect Day for Bananafish NERFINISHED
partOfSeries Glass family saga NERFINISHED
protagonistStatus Seymour Glass as a World War II veteran
publicationDate January 31, 1948
publisherOfFirstMagazinePublication The New Yorker NERFINISHED
setInPeriod post–World War II era
settingLocation a Florida beach resort
symbolism bananafish as a symbol of spiritual and material excess
theme alienation
communication breakdown
innocence
materialism
postwar trauma
suicide
timeOfAction shortly after World War II

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Nine Stories hasStory A Perfect Day for Bananafish
Nine Stories notableStory A Perfect Day for Bananafish