In the first of Nine stories, we encounter the bananafish story. Although this is one story, it was split into two parts. The first section was Muriel on the phone with her mother, and I believe that this section was mainly to give us context. Their conversation gives us insight into the possibility of Seymour having major issues. Although some of the setting presented to us in this first conversation, I believe that it served more as a way to tell us about Seymour. Although this is what Salinger meant to happen in the story, this first conversation sets a bias for readers throughout the rest of the bananafish story. I wanted to see what someone would think of Seymour and Sybil’s relationship without the worried commentary that the mother added to the story.
Thus I gave my sister the story this same short story, but without the first section. All I told her was “This is a story about some guy named Seymour who is on vacation with his wife at the beach. His wife is in the hotel and Sybil is some random girl from the hotel.” As with asking anything of a sibling, she was reluctant but still did the reading. So as she read I went downstairs and did the dishes (The only way she would read the story). When I came back up I asked her a couple of questions. I will list them here with paraphrased answers:
Q: What were your thoughts on the story as a whole?
A: What was that? Why did you make me read this it was creepy? What was wrong with Seymour?
Q: Think about the beginning of the story what did you initially think of the relationship between Seymour and Sybil?
A: I figured that it was a little weird that the mom would just let Sybil go off, but she seemed to know the guy. He had a couple of weird things that he said, but they weren’t too creepy.
Q: At what point did you think differently about the relationship?
A: I think it was around when they went into the ocean. When he kissed her foot that was really creepy. Who lets their daughter go off by themselves with a random man?
Q: What about the ending? Did it surprise you?
A: Why did he kill himself, and why was he so angry in the elevator? Who even was this guy?
Obviously the first question was too broad and without the context from before she had lots of questions, but the next two questions I think prompted a response to the question I was looking for (How much of an effect did the first section of the story have on the rest of it?). I asked those questions because I figured there would be some point when the wording of the story led my sister to the same creeped out feeling we all had from the beginning. Of course this is not scientific at all and has no actual representation of anything, but I found it interesting. Especially how in the end she had the same questions and feelings that we had, even though her thoughts on certain scenes differed from what I saw in class discussions.
This was just a cool experiment I tried, if you guys have any comments on what you thought of the story and if you think you might have read the story differently without the first section please comment your thoughts.
This is a really interesting idea for an experiment (although I hope the ending of the story didn't traumatize your poor sister!). Her confusions about "why" Seymour did what he did (and even the more general "Who even was this guy?") are questions that a reader who HAS read the first part will likely also have. This is a story that raises more questions than it answers. But the context of the first part is important to the extent that it specifies the postwar context, and the fact that Seymour has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation. None of that "explains" his actions, but it does offer crucial context for why this man might be so troubled, so out of sync with the Florida-resort scene he finds himself in. And maybe also why he seeks out the companionship of little kids instead of adults.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting idea. Salinger gives us so much set-up about Seymour, it is cool to see someone's reaction without any of that. I think that was something Salinger had in mind when writing this story, to set up a mostly innocent scene to make the reader worry for Sybil, and then have the very sad ending.
ReplyDeleteI really like this experiment and found it interesting! I feel like I would have been similarly disturbed by this story and its abrupt ending if I had not read the first section. The Muriel/mother section is essential in setting up things about Seymour's personality that later become relevant.
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