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A Life with PTSD

 A Perfect Day for Banana Fish is about a man that got back from World War and is

vacationing with his wife! While on vacation he sociali"es with this little girl called S#bil and

makes her his friend! Post$traumatic stress disorder %PTSD&, also known as shell shock or combat

stress, is ver# common for 'eo'le who have been thru traumatic e('eriences, like soldiers

coming back from war! Some s#m'toms of PTSD are recurring memories of the event, loss of

interest, feeling numb, loss of slee' and feeling angr# and irritable! Se#mour has a loss of

interest e(ce't when he is around S#bil, he tells her stories and 'la#s with her as if ever#thing

was fine with him! )e doesn*t get ver# angr# in the stor# but when the woman in the elevator

was looking at his feet he got a little mad! Se#mour has PTSD caused b# the horrors from war

and this influences his suicidal tendenc#!

Se#mour +lass dis'la#s several s#m'toms that indicate that he suffers from PTSD!

uriel*s mother is worried about his suicidal tendencies and if the# would affect her daughter!

She %Se#mour*s mother in law& remarks, -Did he tr# an# of the funn# business with the trees.

%Salinger, /&! The funn# business she refers to is suicide, since he tried to take his life b#

crashing a car into a tree! There are some s#mbols in the stor# like the trees and tigers, -Did the

tigers run all around that tree0 %Salinger 1&! This could be a reference to how the solders, after

the war, think about killing themselves and how it could be a solution to their 'roblems or this is

how the# look at it! This can be a trigger from an old memor# that made him want to end his life!

Se#mour had a trigger that was the trees, but later in the stor# the trees did not affect him!

2eterans of war who have PTSD have a higher suicide rate that regular 'eo'le, through the stor#

we can see that Se#mour has that urge to kill himself! The reader can inter'ret the bananafish as

a -'ush. for him to commit suicide!

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The banana fish are a s#mbol for what Se#mour thinks he is! Se#mour describes

 bananafish as4

Well, the# swim into a hole where there*s a lot of bananas! The#*re ver# ordinar#

looking fish when the# swim in! 5ut once the# get in, the# behave like 'igs6

 7aturall#, after that there so fat the# can*t get out of the hole again! %Salinger, 18&

)e is com'aring the bananafish with the transformation that ha''ens to the soldiers before and

after the war! )e later tells S#bil that bananafish die from banana fever after getting stuck in the

hole! The banana fever could be a s#mbol for PTSD and how the soldier that have it tend to die

from it! n other words he is com'aring himself to a bananafish, when he got back from +erman#

he was not the same 'erson!

9rom the beginning of the stor#, the reader could inter'ret that something bad was going

to ha''en! A foreshadowing can be read at the beginning of the stor#4 -Se#mour ma# com'letel#

lose control of himself. %Salinger 8&! This is said b# his doctor, he knew that Se#mour was going

to commit suicide or hurt someone while tr#ing to! )e was 'lanning to kill himself in the tri'

since he brought a gun with him but he didn*t know when to do this!

A factor that can influence his need to commit suicide is the bananafish! The da#

Se#mour decides to commit suicide is when S#bil sees a bananafish! Since the# were an animal

that he invented, he was sur'rised when S#bil said she sa# one! At that moment he did not

immediatel# decide to kill himself but he 'robabl# started thinking about it! Another factor that

influence him to end his life is the elevator scene! Se#mour got mad at the woman who was

su''osedl# looking at his feet, which scared her! This is the last that ha''ened before he got in

the room and shot himself in front of his wife! This two things 'ushed him to commit suicide but

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the reader cannot infer which one did the most effect and ultimatel# made him take a decision!

The worst thing is that since he killed himself in the room with his wife slee'ing in the other bed,

she had to be awakened b# the gunshot sound and then to see her dead husband must have been

traumati"ing for her! After that traumatic e('erience, she could develo' PTSD form that!

)is 'ost dramatic stress disorder can also be influenced b# his image about himself and

how others see him! Se#mour was ver# 'ale and even b# going to the beach he remained 'ale!

;ven when uriel, his wife, was talking to her mother the# talked about how he didn*t get

enough sun and that is wh# he is so 'ale! )e never took off his robe unless when he was with

S#bil in the water meaning that he did not like showing his bod#! We can also see this in, - have

two normal feet and can*t see the slightest +od$damned reason wh# an#bod# should stare at

them. %Salinger, 1

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Work =ited4

Salinger, >! D! ?A Perfect Da# for 5ananafish!? Nine Stories! 7ew @ork, London, 5oston4 Little,

5rown, n!d! :$1

)udenko, William, 5eeta )omaifar, and )al Wort"el! ?The Relationshi' 5etween PTSD and

Suicide!? U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs! 7!'!, n!d! Web! 1 A'r! 31/!