The other main character in the story is Moriel Glass who is Seymour’s wife. He ends up killing himself due to the fact that he cannot reconcile with reality. He also exhibits his violent character when he quarrels with a woman in the elevator who was allegedly looking at his feet and stocking him. Moriel’s parents, for instance, fear for there daughters safety as they perceive him as emotionally unstable. This is in contrast to the violent and dangerous character that is presented by Moriel and her mother through the telephone conversation. He excludes himself from social gatherings and would rather be alone on the beach or chat with a child. At the beginning he is presented as calm, quiet and a withdrawn character that is harmless and yearns for simplicity and innocence. He exhibits a complex personality throughout the story. Seymour Glass, for instance, is one of the main characters developed as a round character. There are various characters in the story that have been presented either as flat or round characters. Through the dialogue between Seymour and Sybil, the writer gets the reader to Seymour’s mind and it is clear that Seymour despises materialism and greed exhibited by most people. For instance, she reads a magazine entitled “Sex Is Fun-or Hell.” She also likes going to the beach and partying. Through narration, the writer brings out Moriel as a materialistic character who lives an extravagant live. Through the dialogue between Moriel and her mother, it is evident that they live in a materialistic society. This is compared with the human greed where people do anything to gain material wealth.īy use of the third person narrative style, the writer proves to be observant and gets the reader to different scenes and the thoughts of the characters, hence bringing out the real picture of the society and circumstances under which Seymour committed suicide. The Banana fish feeds on a lot of bananas until they become too fat to go through the exit holes through which they came in. The story of the bananafish, is a metaphor to the materialism that had crept into the society and people did anything to satisfy their greed. The narration also helps in highlighting Seymour’s state of mind and it is quite evident that he despises materialism that is rampant. The parents are concerned that Seymour’s emotional instability might lead him to harm her. Through the dialogue between Moriel and her mother, it is evident that Seymour was emotionally unstable after coming back from war.

The third person narration style and dialogue have been used to help the reader determine what led to the emotional breakdown and the suicide of Seymour. Muriel, for instance, is referred to as the young lady while Seymour is referred to as the young man. The narrator gives the story from the observations made and through listening to the characters’ conversations.

The author has used the third person narration style. If it were in this light, then the story might be perceived as having a strong ending. That is what happens when Seymour commits suicide. The reader might therefore expect that something bad is meant to happen to Seymour. Moriel’s parents are also concerned about her whereabouts, given that she was on vacation with a war veteran who might probably hurt her, given that he was emotionally unstable as a result of the war. The story might have had a different degree of closure if a different expectation was used, especially if it is suspected that Seymour might commit suicide or turn violent owing to the depression due to the war. On the contrary he opts to commit suicide. It is expected that Seymour will view the world with such simplicity as opposed to the thoughts of war and other misfortunes that most adults undergo. While talking to Sybil, the young girl, about bananafish, she brings out the innocence that exists in simplicity and naivety. According to her, he was not as bad as the parents were thinking.

A perfect day for banana fish