“Franny and Zooey” by J. D. Salinger: Themes and Symbols

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Theme of Religion
Theme of Love
Theme of Celebrity Life
Theme of Culture
Glass Family as Symbolism
Fat Lady as Symbolism
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

In his novel Franny and Zooey, released in 1961, J. D. Salinger can be considered an author who uses his characters to express his ideas and emotions. Many authors have been accused of having similar traits in their characters and themselves. When this work was published in the postwar era, Salinger faced an extremely critical audience. Through the words and actions of his characters, he employs tone and language to communicate with them. The lives of J. D. Salinger’s creations reflect his personality, difficulties, and interests. Many topics are included in J. D. Salinger’s novel Franny and Zooey; the story also conveys a meaningful message about discovering oneself and dealing with life’s obstacles and struggles; these themes include religion, love, celebrity life, and culture. The novel also incorporates a number of symbols, each with its own significance and connection to the story.

Theme of Religion

Franny Glass fights against the phoniness and egotism that permeates society. She yearns to be free of her issues and intends to turn to spirituality and religious ideals through the Jesus Prayer. She quickly discovers the flaws in her approach, and she learns how to deal with social discomfort due to her trials and tribulations. Franny realizes that she must let go of her egotism and act selflessly. Franny becomes increasingly religious as the story progresses as she appears to be on the lookout for something in her tumultuous existence. She picks up The Way of a Pilgrim, one of Seymour’s old novels. The story follows a rural farmer who is attempting to discover how to pray continuously in order to reach religious understanding. This man has some resemblance to Franny, as he is looking for happiness while Franny is looking for something else.

In an effort of trying to relieve herself of the inauthenticity and the vanity she has finally identified in herself, she becomes interested in the Jesus Prayer. The individual who frequently prays to Jesus is endowed with “Christ-Consciousness,” and can “see God,” There is only one goal in the Jesus Prayer.’ To provide Christ-Consciousness to the one who says it.’” (Salinger 89) Franny discovers at the end of the story that one interacts with Jesus via prayer and through the entire human race because everyone carries Christ within them. The Jesus Prayer is about love rather than religious issues.

Theme of Love

In this story, love plays a significant role in determimg the outcome of the relationship between Franny and zooey. The youngsters in the Glass family are more intelligent than their parents. However, the children continually advise each other that they are required to appreciate and love their guardians even if they are more intellectual. In Salinger novels, as much as love is always a consideration, family is also presumed to be vital. Zooey’s concern about being a freak stems from growing up with siblings who helped them learn about many things. As much as this is true, it did aid Franny in her journey of spiritual dilemma. In the story, Zooey also educate Franny on learning how to appreciate other individuals despite their differences. The Glass family is unique not out of their intellectual but due to the forms they demonstrate love to each other.

Theme of Celebrity Life

All the children in the novel are stars and celebrities in the radio discussion show. Hence celebrity lifestyle evolves as a subtly recurring element throughout the narrative. The two stories, in general, synthesize the consequences of being famous youngsters. More is explicitly on Franny and Zooey to choose if they are willing to remain famous actors or abandon their celebrity life. Franny’s dissatisfaction with her college life contributes prominently to her breakdown. she ends up despising herself and other individuals for their arrogant behavior and false compliance. The issue is crucial to many authors writing as it is given a redemptive twist in Franny and Zooey. Salinger appears to accept that even people with weak individual wills and large egos should be revered and admired for their humanity, if nothing else.

The story is also heavily influenced by Buddhist ideas, particularly the concept of no-knowledge. The Buddhist must rid his mind of all evil thoughts and distractions to gain wisdom. This technique is opposed to Western education, which Franny and Zooey attend and describe numerous times in the novel and inundates its students with information. Franny blames her school’s poets for failing to explain anything beautiful in their poetry and instead focusing on getting into her thoughts. She is angry for attempting to rescue wisdom through the Jesus Prayer in the same way others try to save knowledge. However, she doesn’t realize that pure no-knowledge cannot be saved.

Theme of Culture

Salinger delivers a scathing assessment of American middle-class culture to the reader. The 1950s are recognized for their conservative values, and Franny is enraged by everyone’s ambition to be exactly like them. She also emphasizes that those who resist are much like those who obey. Lane, in particular, epitomizes typical middle-class characteristics as an adolescent boy. He thinks he is different from everyone else, but he sincerely wants to be accepted by others. Lane’s fixation with traditional values is discussed by Salinger, who offers a few theories and causes. Fame is important for the Glass household, especially Franny and Zooey, who are still actresses. While almost everyone wishes to be famous or stand out, celebrities serve to make the Glass family appear bad. They are either admired as geniuses or despised as know-it-alls by the general people, but they are not expected. Zooey is a scathing critic of television and those in the industry.

Glass Family as Symbolism

The Glass family is the most critical symbol in Franny and Zooey’s lives. The surname Glass has a variety of connotations. Glass is impenetrable, and even though the Glass children keep numerous secrets, they never have privacy. Buddy has decided against installing a telephone in the house due to the fact that Bessie has consistently barged Zooey. Glass reflects light as well. Most of the Glass family, especially Franny and Zooey, are victims of their egos and greed. Finally, like a cup, glasses are fantastic examples of containers that carry liquid. The Glass siblings hold and retain anything that passes their way, soaking everything in. Moreover, Glasses comprise water, and that is a noteworthy factor to Zooey because of the bathing, shaving, and she did have fish as well. Furthermore, she is even used to stepping on a magazine containing a photo of a fish.

Fat Lady as Symbolism

The fat lady in the story’s plot is used as a symbol to engage the reader in the real world. Zooey’s conversation with Franny mentions the fat lady and how Seymour will instruct her to shine the ladies’ shoes. Although Seymour never revealed who the Fat lady was, Zooey had a vivid imagination. He imagined her as a cancer patient sitting on the veranda swatting flies and listening to her radio endlessly. Every time I went on air again, I shined my shoes for the Fat Lady.It is unusual for a fictional character to explain one of a book’s symbols in dialogue explicitly. It may be even more uncommon for an author to introduce a key symbol on the book’s penultimate page. Both components are useful since everything Zooey has been striving to explain resolves in the next statement he conveys to Franny prior to actually ending the telephone conversation. “Do you have any idea who Seymour’s Fat Lady is?… It’s Christ Himself.” (Zooey 56). This statement can only be made towards the end of the book: any other response would be feeble in comparison.

Jesus describes how Christians demonstrate their faith by loving one another, especially the unlovable. When Seymour advises Zooey to shine his shoes for the Fat Lady, he reminds him to be aware that every individual is valuable and respects every person’s dignity. Zooey is not telling Franny to be a good Christian; he is instigating that even the people she dismisses as pretentious or phony—the academics and performers she regards as arrogant and hypocritical—have value and that every human being is precious.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Putting one’s spiritual and personal ideas into words might help define and summarize who one aspires to be. An individual life take on new significance after figuring out who they want to be. However, when these ways of thinking are exposed, such as in Franny Glass’s instance, the mind feels at ease. Salinger crafts lifelike characters with real-life experiences in Franny and Zooey. A parallel can be predicted in one’s own life after going over these types of circumstances. Many topics are included in J. D. Salinger’s novel Franny and Zooey; the story also conveys a meaningful message about discovering oneself and dealing with life’s obstacles and struggles; these themes include religion, love, and culture. Franny, Salinger’s protagonist, tries to define her personality as well as the direction her life is supposed to take. For the above to happen, Franny had to contend with the inauthenticity and individualism of the novel’s adversaries, Zooey and Lane. Thus, both the characters and the audience face some difficulties as a result of Salinger’s writing.

Work Cited

Salinger, J.D, and Johan Hos. Franny En Zooey. De Bezige Bij, 2019, pp. 1-201.

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