“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” (1948)

(spoilers) J.D. Salinger’s story shares some interesting points with Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” Both were published in the New Yorker, both in 1948, both with shocking twist endings, and both in many ways made their careers as breakthrough stories. I also remember both being taught in my 10th-grade English class. “Bananafish” is basically the start of the Glass family saga. The twist ending is out of the O. Henry school of hit ‘em with never-saw-it-coming wry irony aka the temptations of fickle fate. Here the very ordinariness of the day described—the story feels aimless for much of its length—is what sets up the shock of the ending (content warning: suicide). Interestingly, it is better understood now that a suicidal person may appear cheerful and upbeat shortly before committing the deed, having finally made the decision. Not sure Salinger knew that, which might make it an impressive feat of intuition. There is ultimately a lot of psychological veracity here. Future trademarks of Salinger’s writing are apparent too, such as italicizing individual syllables to better mimic actual speech. One of the most seductive aspects of reading him is the sense that a real person is speaking directly to you. It may no longer be as effective, going on a hundred years later—speech patterns change. But, call it nostalgia if you must, but rereading these stories has often felt like something akin to going home. That’s not to say it’s entirely a pleasure. Rereading “Bananafish,” we know what’s coming. Seymour’s scenes with the young girl, Sybil, often struck me as cringy and forced. He is represented as ostentatiously “good with children” but I’m not convinced, partly because I know what is about to happen. And we know now—we learn elsewhere in the still fragmented cycle of stories—that Seymour’s worshipful brother Buddy is the author (or “author”) of this story. The jovial chatter and stream-of-consciousness bantering and joking—bananafish? bananafish?—feel empty and weird. Is Buddy trying to burnish the reputation of a suicide? Likewise the scene with the woman on the elevator, when Seymour accuses her of staring at his feet. It departs from the narrative of the suicide at peace, as now he is suddenly peevish. I think more of these miscues are Salinger, though some are also Buddy’s. But “Bananafish” is nonetheless an auspicious start, there’s no getting around that—to a singular and vastly influential writing career, to the Glass family tales to come, even just to the Nine Stories collection itself. This story is a good place to start in all kinds of ways.

J.D. Salinger, Nine Stories
Read story online.
Listen to story online.