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Situational Irony
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” unfolds in three segments, following Muriel, Sybil, and Seymour. It is told in the third person, from an omniscient viewpoint; it does not enter any of the characters’ thoughts. Instead, the narration is noticeably aloof from the story. The language is matter-of-fact and succinct. Almost all the characters, with the exceptions of Sybil and Mrs. Carpenter, are referred to by an epithet instead of their names, even though their names are revealed quickly in dialogue. Muriel is always “the girl,” and Seymour is “the young man.”
Salinger prefers to show rather than tell. Instead of giving philosophical conclusions or insight into the characters’ feelings, he uses sensory imagery:
He picked up the slimy wet, cumbersome float and put it under his arm. He plodded alone through the soft, hot sand toward the hotel.
The story’s style is also notable for its heavy use of dialogue, through which readers do get insight into characters’ thoughts and feelings. Salinger is very attenuated to the sounds of speech, italicizing words or syllables within words to mimic specific rhythms of emphasis. This ultimately makes it easy for readers to imagine themselves into the lives of the story's characters, thus making it that much more shocking when Seymour kills himself.
