Franny and Zooey

Franny and Zooey is a 1961 book by J. D. Salinger. The book contains the 1955 short story Franny and the 1957 novella Zooey, both works that Salinger published separately in The New Yorker before he published them as a single book. J. D. Salinger is an American author most famous for his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The short story Franny follows Franny Glass as she visits her boyfriend Lane Coutell at school and discusses her newfound fascination with spirituality. The novella Zooey follows Franny’s brother Zooey Glass, who attempts to comfort his sister as she continues to grieve the death of their brother Seymour. In both works, Salinger explores themes including The Critique of Societal Inauthenticity, The Significance of Family in Shaping Identity, and The Quest for Spiritual and Existential Meaning.

This guide refers to the 2014 Little, Brown and Company print edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of suicide and mental health conditions.

Plot Summary

In Franny, Franny Glass visits her boyfriend, Lane Coutell, for the weekend. They go to a restaurant together, and Lane tells Franny about a paper he wrote for his class. Franny seems distracted, but Lane believes this is because her stomach hurts. Franny tells Lane that she wants to drop out of school because she thinks that the professors are pretentious. Lane believes that she is being egotistical, and Franny goes to the bathroom to cry.

When she comes back to the table, Franny tells Lane about her book called The Way of a Pilgrim. The book follows a peasant who wanders around Russia, trying to discover what the Bible means where it says that people should pray incessantly. He finally learns what he calls the Jesus Prayer. The peasant meets a teacher who tells him that if he repeats this prayer continually, eventually his heart and breath will synchronize with his prayer, and he will see God. Lane dismisses the book, claiming that it is not worth reading since none of its assertions have any scientific merit. Franny leaves to go to the bathroom, but she faints. When Franny wakes up in the restaurant manager’s office, Lane sits with her. He tells her that she needs to rest for the rest of the day but insinuates that if she feels better later, he might sneak into her room for sex. Lane leaves to call Franny a taxi and Franny stares at the ceiling, reciting the Jesus Prayer.

In Zooey, Franny’s brother Zooey sits in a bath, reading a four-year-old letter from his older brother Buddy, who encourages him to pursue his passions. In the letter, Buddy addresses the anniversary of their older brother Seymour’s death by suicide. As Zooey reads the letter, his mother, Bessie, bursts into the bathroom to ask him what they should do to help Franny. Zooey does not think they can do anything, but he explains to Bessie that The Way of a Pilgrim was the book Seymour read before he died, and that Franny took it from Seymour’s old desk in his room.

After he gets out of the bath, Zooey wakes Franny up to speak with her. Although Zooey tries to help Franny, he ends up accusing her of being as inauthentic as her professors. She has been looking to spirituality as an escape from inauthenticity, but Zooey tells her that her spiritual pursuits are just as performative and ego-driven as anything else. Franny tells him that she knows that she is being inauthentic, which is why she is so depressed. Zooey tells Franny that he is familiar with the Jesus Prayer, and he does not understand why she wants to speak to God. After they continue arguing, Franny tells Zooey that she really wishes she could speak with Seymour. Zooey feels surprised by this response. However, he pesters Franny about the Jesus Prayer and makes her cry. Zooey feels ashamed, and he leaves her alone. Zooey goes into Seymour’s old bedroom and sits at his desk. He reads some of Seymour’s writing and picks up his telephone.

Bessie tells Franny that Buddy is on the phone for her. Franny goes into her parents’ room to take the call. She tells Buddy about how much Zooey upset her with the way he spoke to her. Buddy comforts her, but after a while Franny notices that the way he speaks to her does not sound right. She realizes that it is Zooey pretending to be Buddy on the phone. Zooey tells her that he admires her passion for life and thinks that she should continue acting. Franny listens and Zooey tells her about how Seymour gave him advice once when he did not want to go on the radio show they were a part of as a kid. Seymour told him that he should shine his shoes, even though no one would see them, for the “Fat Lady.” Franny says that Seymour told her the same thing once and that she used to imagine the Fat Lady sitting listening to their show. Zooey explains his interpretation of this parable: Everyone in the world is the Fat Lady, and the Fat Lady is Jesus. Zooey hangs up the phone, but Franny sits on her parents’ bed, suddenly hopeful. She hangs up the phone and gets into her parents’ bed and falls asleep.