In each short story by J. D. Salinger, a main character struggles with a question concerning different factors in their own life. Some of the noticeable and repetitious themes in Salinger's stories are Appearance vs. Reality; Adults vs. Children; Sanity vs. Insanity; and the meaning of life. The only difference is the way each character deal with the problems.
In Salingers story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," Seymore Glass is a young man on Vacation in Florida that was with his wife who is as beautiful as can be and in love with the man, Seymore once was. After the war, the army put Seymore into a mental institution due to his major case of shell shock that he received from the war. For this reason, Seymore went from sanity in an insane world, to his strive not to be insane in the world he lives in. While on vacation he meet a young girl on the beach, Sybil she called herself, was about 5 years old. Seymore enjoyed talking to Sybil, she reminded him of the man he once was as if the was never happened. One time Seymore and Sybil went swimming in the ocean to look for Bananafish. These "Bananafish" were symbolic to the soldiers that went into the war. Just as he was like a Bananafish, before the war he went into the war normal, and if they were able to live through the war you would not be excepted into the society that they live in. Sybil went back to her room and Seymore did the same. Seymore sees a woman staring at his feet. Seymore turns form a "sane men" to a man that knows he needs to come to grips with the reality with his life.
The story starts off with Sargent X that sent home by the army. Sargent X returns home and receives an invitation to a wedding back in Europe. Like Sargent X's peers, he was dispassionate about the war. He was trying to fight for his sanity in an insane world, caused by the war. Sargent X started to think about life as in depth, just as
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