A Perfect Day For Bananafish

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” takes place at a resort hotel in Florida in 1948. The story initially begins with Muriel who is talking to her mother about Seymour, her husband to whom she has been married to for about five years. The two discuss Seymour’s peculiar behavior and Muriel’s mother is worried that Seymour isn’t mentally stable. Muriel insists Seymour is fine and doesn’t seem to take the issue seriously. Meanwhile, Seymour is down at the beach and spends time with a little girl named Sybil Carpenter. Sybil is enamored with him and the two spend time together looking for “bananafish.” According to Seymour, bananafish are normal fish until they swim into a banana hole and gorge on too many bananas so they can’t swim back out again and then die. Sybil claims to have seen a bananafish with six whole bananas in his mouth. Seymour kisses her foot and tells her it’s time to go back. Once they’ve parted ways Seymour gets into an elevator and accuses the woman accompanying him of staring at his feet. She is appalled by the accusation and thinks Seymour is crazy. Once Seymour gets back to his hotel room he reaches for the gun in his suitcase, sits on the twin bed opposite from the one Muriel is sleeping on, and fires a bullet through his temple.
The story contrasts children’s innocence and imagination with adults’ materialistic and shallow outlook. The story even suggests children as being more spiritually advanced than adults. Seymour’s behavior seems to be accepted around children but peculiar around adults. This is mainly because their naiveté makes them more capable of seeing others with the soul than just the eyes. This innocence and purity is referred to and valued throughout the story through Seymour kissing Sybil’s feet allowing him to demonstrate his reverence and love for youth and