'Catcher In The Rye And A Perfect Day For Bananafish'

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“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved” Mother Teresa. J.D Salinger integrates loneliness into “Catcher in the Rye” and “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” to prove that each and every person needs love, family, and friendship to maintain a healthy and stable mind. Without valuable human connections, it can lead to insanity and depression. With no one to communicate with, it is understandable to feel isolated, misunderstood, and alone. The importance of connecting with others is emphasized through J.D Salinger’s experiences and the stories of Holden Caulfield and Seymour Glass. In Catcher in the Rye and A Perfect Day For Bananafish, Holden and Seymour are different from the people around them and do not fit…show more content…
Holden has only had a special bond with a girl once, named Jane, and recalls she was “funny”, “always reading”, and that they “used to hold hands a lot” (Catcher in the Rye.78). But Holden has a desire for more romantic experience and hires a prostitute. However, instead of enjoying the experience, he declared that he felt “more depressed then sexy” (Catcher in the Rye.95). Whereas Holden has issues keeping relationships, Seymour has problems communicating with his wife. The disconnection between the two is shown when he refers to her not by her name, but by a label. “He glanced at the girl lying asleep on one of the twin beds” (Bananafish.9). Sybil questions him about the “lady” and “where she was” (Bananafish.6), he replies,“The lady? That’s hard to say...She may be at the hairdresser’s...or making dolls...or in her room” (Bananafish.6). Seymour doesn’t effectively communicate with his wife, considering the fact that he doesn't even know where she is. Without meaningful connection with other people, it is hard for Holden and Seymour to have romantic relationships because they both don’t understand their partner’s…show more content…
Holden physically distances himself from others by lying as a form of self protection. He even admits this to himself, “I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful.”(Catcher in the Rye.16). He unknowingly uses lying so others won’t know his true self and have more reasons to judge him. Because lying is his go to method of separation, it appears hard for him to stop.“Then I started reading this timetable... Just to stop lying. I can go on for hours”(Catcher in the Rye. 8). Holden separates himself even further by deciding to leave Pencey early because he was "too sad and lonesome” (Catcher in the Rye.51). But he ends up lonelier after he leaves, and regrets making the quick decision. While people can challenge that lying is not a way of separation and is just a bad habit, I argue that Holden uses lying to separate himself from society on account of the fact that he lies about everything in his life. He lies about his name, pretending to be “Rudolf Schmidt” (Catcher in the Rye.54). His age, saying he is “twenty two” (Catcher in the Rye.94) and even about his feelings, “I figured if they caught me, they caught me. I almost wish they did, in a way.” (Catcher in the Rye.180) referring to how he almost got caught leaving Phoebe’s room. Seymour distances himself physically and mentally from others, by engaging in activities like playing the piano in the other room with younger
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