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Sybil Carpenter
Like Muriel’s father, Muriel’s mother is deeply worried about Seymour’s strange and erratic behavior lately, and how it might endanger Muriel. The first several pages of the story are dedicated to Muriel’s phone conversation with her mother, in which her mother attempts to air these concerns and convince Muriel to spend some time apart from Seymour. But though so much air time is devoted to this conversation, the pair fail to communicate very much at all—they cut each other off mid-sentence, change the subject abruptly on each other, and only really engage in mutual back-and-forth conversation when discussing frivolous things like fashion or gossip. Both mother and daughter are extremely materialistic and don’t understand Seymour’s poetic sensibilities—for instance, they laugh and scoff at the time he sent Muriel a book of German poems while at war and actually expected her to read them. But Muriel’s mother does seem to have a little more emotional intelligence and empathy for others than her daughter does, given her clear concern for Muriel’s well-being.
Muriel’s Mother Quotes in A Perfect Day for Bananafish
The A Perfect Day for Bananafish quotes below are all either spoken by Muriel’s Mother or refer to Muriel’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
A Perfect Day for Bananafish
Quotes
“[…] He calls me Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948,” the girl said, and giggled.
“It isn’t funny, Muriel. It isn’t funny at all. It’s horrible. It’s sad, actually. When I think how—”
“Mother,” the girl interrupted, “listen to me. You remember that book he sent me from Germany? You know—those German poems. What’d I do with it? I’ve been racking my—”
“You have it.”
“Are you sure?” said the girl.
“Certainly. That is, I have it. It’s in Freddy’s room. You left it here […] —Why? Does he want it?”
“[…] He wanted to know if it’d read it.”
“It was in German!”
“[…] He said that the poems happen to be written by the only great poet of the century. He said I should’ve bought a translation or something. Or learned the language, if you please.”
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“[…] he said it was a perfect crime the Army released him from the hospital—my word of honor. He very definitely told your father there’s a chance—a very great chance, he said—that Seymour may completely lose control of himself. My word of honor.”
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“[…] he asked me if Seymour’s been sick or something, So I said—”
“Why’d he ask that?”
“I don’t know, Mother. I guess because he’s so pale and all,” said the girl. “Anyway, […] His wife was horrible. You remember that awful dinner dress you saw in Bonwit’s window? The one you said you’d have to have a tiny, tiny—”
“The green?”
“She had it on. And all hips. […]”
“What’d he say though? The doctor.”
“Oh. Well, nothing much, really. I mean we were in the bar and all. It was terribly noisy.”
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Get the entire A Perfect Day for Bananafish LitChart as a printable PDF.
Muriel’s Mother Quotes in A Perfect Day for Bananafish
The A Perfect Day for Bananafish quotes below are all either spoken by Muriel’s Mother or refer to Muriel’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
A Perfect Day for Bananafish
Quotes
“[…] He calls me Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948,” the girl said, and giggled.
“It isn’t funny, Muriel. It isn’t funny at all. It’s horrible. It’s sad, actually. When I think how—”
“Mother,” the girl interrupted, “listen to me. You remember that book he sent me from Germany? You know—those German poems. What’d I do with it? I’ve been racking my—”
“You have it.”
“Are you sure?” said the girl.
“Certainly. That is, I have it. It’s in Freddy’s room. You left it here […] —Why? Does he want it?”
“[…] He wanted to know if it’d read it.”
“It was in German!”
“[…] He said that the poems happen to be written by the only great poet of the century. He said I should’ve bought a translation or something. Or learned the language, if you please.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“[…] he said it was a perfect crime the Army released him from the hospital—my word of honor. He very definitely told your father there’s a chance—a very great chance, he said—that Seymour may completely lose control of himself. My word of honor.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“[…] he asked me if Seymour’s been sick or something, So I said—”
“Why’d he ask that?”
“I don’t know, Mother. I guess because he’s so pale and all,” said the girl. “Anyway, […] His wife was horrible. You remember that awful dinner dress you saw in Bonwit’s window? The one you said you’d have to have a tiny, tiny—”
“The green?”
“She had it on. And all hips. […]”
“What’d he say though? The doctor.”
“Oh. Well, nothing much, really. I mean we were in the bar and all. It was terribly noisy.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
