For this assignment, we were to create chose one moment/theme/character/object from our first several stories, and write a personal, non-fictional document about ourselves and the experienced we felt when reading it. The short story I chose for this task was J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

The story choices were The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “Colloquy,” “The Daemon Lover,” and “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

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Brandon Vasquez 

09/20/2020

The fine line between fiction and reality is called consciousness, this is an idea that we often forget when delving into the world of fiction. The beauty of fiction is that we dedicate our lives to this ideal paradise which we can never reach but for some of us fiction can also expose our dreadful reality. Throughout the short readings that we’ve come to explore in class, the one short story that stuck with me and allowed me to enjoy breaking down its hidden literary meaning was “Bananafish” by the esteemed writer J.D. Salinger. The ways in which Salinger portrays society and those who are damaged within it within his short story, resemble much of my views and experiences of life. Salinger uses his symbolism of the bananafish to subtlety give life to this strange disorder that surrounds the somewhat elusive protagonist; Seymour Glass. Another intriguing part of this story is the way that Seymour is not really ever his true self to the world and is only shown to be expressive or caring to his savior “Sybil.” I especially find this intriguing due to its similarity in my inability to expresses myself to those around me, but when it’s that one person the world just seems a little brighter and much more stable. This sort of savior figure is one I truly believe to be a necessity for all people even though we may struggle our entire life searching for them, one such account of this sort of savior figure is not only seen in my life but also in the life of a veteran who struggled with PTSD but had his wife help him go through those tough times and stay alive.

Much like the allusion of the bananafish being PTSD, I’ve personally experienced a friendship with someone who suffers from this disorder. The way that Seymour details the effect of bananafish, by stating that “they eat so many bananas they can’t get out of the banana hole.” Symbolizes the effect of PTSD not only in Seymour’s case of being in the army but also the fact that people are stuffed to the brim with trauma, they are often given more than they can even take in and when that happens they become fat and can’t get out of that endless pit. This instance of recalling what bananafish does to you reminded me of a friend I met online and still talk to. Her past was very disturbing and filled with an abusive stepdad who often locked her in dark rooms and beat her for not doing as told, this constant intake of abuse and such would entail and symbolize the bananas that she was forcefully fed. Due to her past with her stepfather she developed PTSD and insomnia, she is now direly afraid of the dark and of even sleeping because of the lucid nightmares that haunt her. As I recall, she was a normal girl before being thrust into a world of abuse, much like Salinger states “They’re very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in.” People who have come to suffer from PTSD sometimes are unaware of the unending illusion they are trapped in, a feverish horror of repetition that constantly reminds them of painful acts that have been done to them–much like my friend experienced, or like Seymour’s past in the army–or that they have committed.

Seeing Seymour’s character and his interaction with the world and Sybil, reflected the same way I have felt my entire life, always leaving those who want to understand me clueless and never really trying to speak up about my state of mind; that is until you meet the person who can save you from the dread of the world. Seymour portrays the struggles one faces when confronting their inner selves. Akin to Seymour I have never really expressed or been able to share with the world how I felt. I used to attend therapy; however, I was never able to truly open up about how I felt or what was going on, and so my family and my therapist were lead to seeming as careless as those around Seymour, much like Seymour I didn’t seem too inclined on sharing what I felt inside, but then I found someone who would listen to everything I said and would try to understand, not only that but this sort of savior helped me smile and enjoy the beautiful side of the glass (life), just like Sybil serves as a savior of sorts and as someone who helps Seymour in his daring and challenging time. “The young man suddenly picked up one of Sybil’s wet feet, which were drooping over the end of the float, and kissed the arch.” In this quote, I felt the deep and incomprehensible appreciation and love that Seymour had for Sybil, this pure soul who is sharing with him the bitter-sweetness of the world. At that moment, I came to understand Seymour and why Salinger places this line in the story, Salinger shows the deep affection that Seymour shares with this soul, as a mere form of gratitude he performs this awkward action. I see this part in myself in so many ways, always being unable to thank others in a normal sense, I believed just doing as told or whatever another person asked was the way of showing gratitude. Just as I have experienced this person who has saved me from the darkest periods of my life others have had the same support pillars such as this former soldier named Brad Copelin. Copelin is interviewed in a show called sixty minutes and on the video we see him bawling in tears as he speaks on his life with PTSD, but one of the most enthralling things I heard from the Copelin was that he said “if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be sitting here today.” This may seem like a cliche line but it manifests what I stated earlier, how Seymour Copelin and I live in societies and around people who simply were shut out and never really understood who we were and what we struggled with, but when met with this estranged soul that guided us and showed us a beautiful side of the world, we were able to not fear the world in those shared and fragile moments.

Holistically, the thin line between reality and fiction can be revealed when we see our reflections in these pieces, I know that while writing this, Salinger saw himself and yearned for himself in this short story…He wanted the world to understand the piece of him that didn’t make sense. To express and feel is what he desired most as he put pen to paper. Though my relations to this text are scarce, I am profound of the many ways in which Salinger allowed me to see a faint reflection of myself and this world in his short story.

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