A Perfect Day for Bananafish (Salinger)
from the Collection “Nine Stories”
Short Summary
A Florida beach resort hotel, approximately late 1940s. A young woman, spending her vacation at an upscale hotel, waited for a long-distance call to come through. While she waited, she painted her nails and handled minor grooming tasks. Eventually, she spoke to her worried mother on the phone.
Muriel's mother repeatedly questioned her about her husband's mental health, anxious after his unusual post-war behaviors, but Muriel dismissed the concerns casually. Meanwhile, down on the beach, her husband spent his time alone, avoiding adult interaction and preferring the company of a young child.
On the beach, Seymour encountered Sybil, a curious little girl. He playfully talked about catching imaginary 'bananafish', tragic creatures whose greed doomed them. After a brief swim, Seymour abruptly returned to his room.
Upon reaching his hotel room, Seymour observed his sleeping wife briefly before retrieving his firearm.
The room smelled of new calfskin luggage and nail-lacquer remover. He glanced at the girl lying asleep on one of the twin beds. Then he went over to one of the pieces of luggage, opened it, and from under a pile of shorts and undershirts he took out an Ortgies calibre 7.65 automatic.
He calmly sat down and shot himself in the head, ending his own life.
Detailed Summary
Division into sections is editorial.
Muriel's Conversation with Her Mother
In a Florida hotel room, Muriel Glass waited from noon until almost two-thirty to place a long-distance call due to ninety-seven New York advertising men monopolizing the phone lines. While waiting, she read a magazine article, washed her comb and brush, removed a spot from her beige suit, moved a button on her blouse, and tweezed hairs from her mole. When the phone finally rang, she was applying nail lacquer to her left hand.
She was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing. She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty.
Muriel answered the call from her mother, who immediately expressed concern about her daughter's well-being. Her mother was worried about Seymour, Muriel's husband, and his mental state. Muriel assured her that everything was fine and explained that Seymour had driven them to Florida very carefully, staying under fifty miles per hour the whole way.
The conversation revealed that Seymour had been involved in an incident with their car, which he had offered to pay for. Muriel's mother also inquired about Seymour's behavior, asking if he was still calling her by an offensive nickname. Muriel replied that he now called her "Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948" and giggled. Her mother found nothing humorous about this.
Muriel's mother then informed her that her father had spoken with Dr. Sivetski, who believed it was a "crime" that the Army had released Seymour from the hospital. The doctor warned there was a great chance Seymour might completely lose control of himself.
He very definitely told your father there's a chance—a very great chance, he said—that Seymour may completely lose control of himself. My word of honor.
Muriel mentioned there was a psychiatrist at the hotel, but her mother had never heard of him. When pressed about Seymour's behavior on the beach, Muriel explained that he just lay there and wouldn't take off his bathrobe, claiming he didn't want people looking at his tattoo, though he didn't actually have one. Despite her mother's insistence that she come home, Muriel refused, saying she had just arrived and was too sunburned to travel.
Mother, you talk about him as though he were a raving maniac... Well, you sound that way. I mean all he does is lie there. He won't take his bathrobe off... He says he doesn't want a lot of fools looking at his tattoo.
Seymour Meets Sybil on the Beach
On the beach, a young girl named Sybil Carpenter approached a young man lying on his back. She asked if he was going into the water. The man turned over, recognized her, and greeted her warmly. When Sybil asked again about going into the water, he replied that he had been waiting for her.
Sybil told Seymour that her father was coming tomorrow on an airplane. She then asked about "the lady," presumably referring to Muriel. Seymour joked that she could be anywhere—at the hairdresser's or making dolls for poor children. He complimented Sybil's bathing suit, mistakenly calling it blue, but Sybil corrected him, stating it was yellow.
The conversation took an unexpected turn when Sybil mentioned that Sharon Lipschutz had sat with Seymour on the piano seat. Seymour explained that he couldn't push Sharon off when she sat next to him, but he had pretended she was Sybil. This seemed to satisfy the little girl, who then suggested they go into the water.
Seymour removed his robe, revealing his royal blue swimming trunks and white, narrow shoulders. He carefully folded his robe and placed it on his towel. Taking Sybil's hand and tucking the float under his arm, they walked toward the ocean together. Along the way, they discussed where Sybil lived (Whirly Wood, Connecticut), talked about the children's book "Little Black Sambo," and chatted about random topics like wax, olives, and Sharon Lipschutz.
The Story of the Bananafish
When they reached deeper water, Seymour told Sybil they would look for bananafish. Sybil had never heard of bananafish before. Seymour placed her on the float and pushed her out into the water, explaining that this was a perfect day for bananafish. When Sybil said she couldn't see any, Seymour began to tell her about their peculiar habits.
Well, they swim into a hole where there's a lot of bananas. They're very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs... they're so fat they can't get out of the hole again.
Sybil asked what happened to the bananafish after they ate so many bananas. Seymour explained that they died from banana fever, which he described as a terrible disease. As they continued floating, Sybil suddenly exclaimed that she had seen a bananafish with six bananas in its mouth. Delighted by her participation in his fantasy, Seymour picked up one of Sybil's feet and kissed the arch.
Well, I hate to tell you, Sybil. They die... Well, they get banana fever. It's a terrible disease.
Sybil turned around, surprised by the kiss. Seymour asked if she'd had enough, and despite her protest, he pushed the float toward shore. Once they reached the beach, Sybil got off the float and ran without hesitation back toward the hotel. Seymour gathered his things and followed, walking alone through the hot sand.
Seymour's Return to the Hotel
On the sub-main floor of the hotel, Seymour entered an elevator with a woman who had zinc salve on her nose. He suddenly accused her of staring at his feet, though she insisted she had been looking at the floor. Seymour became agitated, telling her not to be "a God-damned sneak about it" if she wanted to look at his feet. Frightened, the woman asked to be let out of the elevator immediately.
If you want to look at my feet, say so, but don't be a God-damned sneak about it... I have two normal feet and I can't see the slightest God-damned reason why anybody should stare at them.
After the woman left, Seymour continued to the fifth floor. He got off at his floor, walked down the hall, and entered room 507. The room smelled of new calfskin luggage and nail-lacquer remover. Muriel was asleep on one of the twin beds. Seymour went to a piece of luggage, took out an Ortgies calibre 7.65 automatic pistol, checked the magazine, and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed.
Looking at his sleeping wife, Seymour aimed the pistol at his right temple and fired, killing himself instantly.