earticle

영어

In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, Salinger had ambitious intention of making protagonist Seymour a public man whom most readers can recognize. To achieve this intention he devised very effective narrative strategies. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” this paper discusses how the objective narrative of third person narrator, who is dispassionate and does not give room for internal description gains high effect for suicide theme. Because this short story is written by a very reticent third person narrator readers are very confused and thrilled when Seymour killed himself by shooting himself in the head. Readers can merely guess his discontent about luxurious wife and his isolated situation. But to the end his inner conflict was not described at all, so the reasons of suicide are uncertain. Such is suicide. The dead is silent, the remaining ones are supposed to live under guilt. The suicidal man whose name is Seymour gives deep impression on readers. If Salinger wrote only this story, this can be only a shocking and common suicide of a nervous man. After 7 years later, Salinger wrote Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and reintroduced Seymour who is not just a nervous man but a god-seeking genius. This paper discusses how the first person narrator gets recognition as a reliable narrator by objectifying himself. The plot construction of Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is composed of the conflict between aggressive Matron of Honor and confused defensive Buddy who is narrator and Seymour’s younger brother. Naturally Buddy is a very cordial narrator to Seymour whom Buddy respects as a real poet. But he firmly excludes any subjective way of thinking and prejudices. The narrator’s characteristics are intellectual humor and objectifying attitude to himself. Therefore he gains firmly readers’ trust. And through Seymour’s emotional diary, we see an excessively pure and defective young man in Seymour. This fault gains readers’ affection. Even though Salinger secluded himself from the world, the public man Seymour remains with us and reminds us of Salinger. Salinger achieved this intention through the deliberate narrative strategies.