A Perfect Day for Bananafish

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” explores Seymour’s search for meaning following his return from World War II. Seymour struggles to come to terms with his experiences in the war and is unable to find a place for himself in the world. He is surrounded by people who are concerned with superficial things, such as social status and appearance, and he is unable to connect with them on a meaningful level. Four-year-old Sybil represents innocence and purity, something that Seymour is desperate to hold on to but ultimately cannot.

The narrative structure is straightforward, consisting of two brief scenes and three extended ones. Only the fifth scene is without dialogue, placing its focus squarely on Seymour’s actions as he returns to room 507, finds Muriel asleep, and then takes his life. Told in a third-person omniscient point of view, the story uses both direct character names and generalized character references. For example, Seymour is “the young man,” and Muriel is “the girl” while chatting with her mother and “the lady” to Sybil. This style choice provides distance between the reader and the characters, which mirrors Seymour’s detachment from the rest of the world.