Beyond these boundaries is the freedom of relative solitude. The meeting place of the two pivotal characters of the story takes place outside of the confines of modern, repressive society, as symbolized by the hotel. She goes out of the "area reserved for guests of the hotel," where Seymour is lying on the sand (Salinger, 15). Sybil, once released from her mother, runs off to meet Seymour on the beach. Her whole hearted acceptance of his story, to the point of seeing the creature of his invention, allows him the release necessary before he ends his life. After this, Seyomur kisses her foot and suggests they exit the water, beginning the events that culminate in his suicide. She asserts that it had six bananas in its mouth, so it had begun its fatal gluttony. She also hints at the impending death when she "sees" a bananafish (Salinger, 24). Her powers of perception are alluded to when she chants "see more glass" on the beach before finding Seymour (Salinger, 14). These women were regarded as oracles or prophets, a role Sybil fulfills in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Sybil is also a derivative of Isabel, which means "consecrated to God." His swimming companion, Sybil, is possessed of uncanny foresight, much like the sibyls of ancient Greece and Rome. Ultimately, Seymour shatters like glass (Gwynn and Blotner, 20). He "sees more" than other people, and is possessed of a fragile psyche. Seymour Glass (see more glass) is an introspective, sensitive character. Salinger’s story abounds in literary symbolism. Only outside of traditional parameters can Seymour find happiness, casting off the pressures of society and reveling in his essential humanity. Their unlikely friendship fails to alleviate the "external forces which seek to inhibit and destroy him" (Grunwald, 123). His ally in the story is a wise-child named Sybil. The eldest Glass son, Seymour, appears in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" as the typical Salinger hero: a non-conformist in opposition to a grossly materialistic world. His main characters, the Glass family, have been more psychoanalyzed then most real people. Salinger’s writing has been the subject of intense scrutiny for more than half a century.
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