A Perfect Day for Bananafish

“I told your father you’d probably call last night. But, no, he had to—Are you all right, Muriel? Tell me the truth.”

Throughout her conversation with her daughter, Muriel’s mother expresses concern for Muriel and her safety. The unfinished thought, which occurs near the beginning of their conversation, and her repeated requests to know if Muriel is all right all heighten the tension. Her request for “the truth” also proves ironic in a story where most characters lack emotional honesty.

“He drove? Muriel, you gave me your word of— […] Did he try any of that funny business with the trees?”

Muriel’s mother refers indirectly to an incident involving Seymour and trees. Later dialogue renders her meaning somewhat clearer, but the vagueness of the initial allusion is significant. In addition to creating suspense, it prevents Seymour’s actions from being fully comprehensible and thus mirrors his alienation from society. That the characters do not describe the event in more detail also suggests their discomfort with the reality of Seymour’s situation.

“He said that the poems happened to be written by the only great poet of the century. He said I should’ve bought a translation or something. Or learned the language, if you please.”

Muriel tells her mother Seymour’s reason for giving her a book of poems in German even though she doesn’t speak the language. This inapt gift is a symbol of their lack of communication and the distance that has grown between them.

“In the first place, he said it was a perfect crime the Army released him from the hospital […] He very definitely told your father that there’s a chance […] that Seymour may completely lose control of himself.”

Muriel’s mother imparts what a psychiatrist said about Seymour. By establishing that Seymour is not mentally well, the psychiatrist’s remarks foreshadow Seymour’s suicide.

“He won’t take his bathrobe off […] I guess because he’s so pale.”

Muriel speaks to her mother about Seymour’s bathrobe, which he wears down to the beach and refuses to remove. Characteristically, she attributes his reluctance to be seen to a superficial quality—his untanned skin—rather than any deeper emotional motivations. Seymour does in fact remove the bathrobe when swimming with Sybil; her innocence makes him feel safe enough to reveal more of himself, literally and figuratively.

“Mother, I’m not afraid of Seymour.”

During her conversation with her mother, Muriel makes it repeatedly clear that she’s not worried about Seymour, what his actions mean in regard to his illness, or what his illness could mean for his and her safety. She explicitly tells her mother what her dialogue has been dancing around: Seymour and his actions don’t frighten her.

“When I think of how you waited for that boy all through the war—I mean when you think of all those crazy little wives who—”

Muriel’s mother is not simply concerned for her daughter’s safety. She worries about how they look to other people, as evidenced by her implication that Muriel (unlike other women) was a model of wifely devotion during the war. Seymour’s behavior jeopardizes this image of the pair as the perfect married couple.

“Did you see more glass?”

Sybil creates a syllabic breakdown of Seymour’s name. This becomes a metaphor for her relationship with Seymour and the way it develops The Tension Between Innocence and Experience. Seymour functions as a piece of glass: He can only reflect her innocence, not absorb it or reclaim his own.

“That’s hard to say, Sybil. She may be in any one of a thousand places. At the hairdresser’s. Having her hair dyed mink. Or making dolls for poor children, in her room.”

When Sybil asks Seymour where Muriel is, Seymour sarcastically lists the places she might be; the idea that she is having her hair done characterizes her as superficial, while the suggestion that she is “making dolls for poor children” is so clearly incongruous with her character as depicted that it reinforces the effect. This shows the growing disconnect between Seymour and his wife.

“This is a perfect day for bananafish.”

Seymour tells Sybil that there are bananafish to be found. What seems a whimsical act of make believe turns into a darker tale about the fish eating so much that they are incapable of escaping their cave, causing them to die. The idea that this is a “perfect day” is also ironic, as it is the day that Seymour dies by suicide.

“They lead a very tragic life […] They’re very ordinary fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs.”

As Seymour tells Sybil about the bananafish, he explains that they seemingly have no control over their appetites, eating so much that they can no longer leave their cave. This is partly a metaphor for the superficiality of American society, but it also suggests The Psychological Effects of War—e.g., Seymour’s isolation and inability to escape his own mind.

“‘Goodbye,’ said Sybil, and ran without regret in the direction of the hotel.”

After Seymour kisses Sybil’s foot, he abruptly decides it’s time to return to the beach even though Sybil says she hasn’t had enough. Nevertheless, when they reach the beach, Sybil leaves Seymour behind “without regret.” This highlights her innocence, as the regret of leaving the water doesn’t weigh on her, whereas Seymour cannot leave the past behind. It also hints that Seymour’s action may have upset her, perhaps contributing to his suicide by fueling a sense that he will never find connection and companionship.

“But don’t be a God-damned sneak about it.”

Seymour has confronted a woman in the elevator who he believes is staring at his feet. Whether or not she actually was, his belief that she is lying is significant, as it highlights his hatred of the superficiality that surrounds him. His words are likely also projection of the guilt he feels about kissing Sybil’s foot, or at least a recognition that others would view it as inappropriate. Frustration about this incident—whether fear that he has ruined his one meaningful relationship, anger that society would misunderstand the gesture, or a mixture of both—implicitly contributes to his furious reaction.