Synopsis
Franny and Zoey were written as two different stories, the first being a short story about Franny, a college student dissatisfied with the pretentious American society as epitomized by her boyfriend, Lane. He even pretends he does not remember the letter he was just reading before the train arrived. The events of the story take place at a French restaurant where Lane takes Franny during their date, and the conversation that ensues is indicative of just how the two are different. Lane talks incessantly about his school work and assumes that Franny does not understand some of the words he uses. Franny is enraged, and it seems as if she has been angry for quite some time now because she feels she is becoming too judgmental. She hates the education system and feels that most of their professors are too egotistical, she has even quit the acting club because she felt if she continued acting; she too would become egotistical.
When Franny takes over the conversation, albeit reservedly, she divulges to Lane the importance of the little green book titled ’The Way of the Pilgrim’ she carries in her purse. For the first time since their meeting, there is excitement in Franny’s voice as she tells the disinterested Lane the story of a devoted Christian, who traveled the world reciting Jesus’ Prayer throughout his journey. He recites the prayer so much that it moves from his lips into his heart and becomes an integral part of his soul. Lane wonders if Franny believes in ‘this stuff’ but Franny manages to dodge the question. The implication here is that she is not sure whether she believes in ‘this stuff’ herself but she certainly does not take is as lightly as Lane, and she certainly does not appreciate his tone. She is so conflicted that she hardly touches her food and as a result, she appears pale and weak. When she excuses herself to go to the bathroom, she faints, confirming our suspicions that she is not okay when she faints in the bathroom. This incidence seems to dim Lane’s initial self-absorption as he tends to her and calls a taxi for her. Our reprieve is short-lived because the moment the taxi arrives, Lane leaves Franny and hurries to catch up with his friends as Fanny, dejected, recites Jesus’ prayer like the devoted pilgrim in her little green book.
The second story, Zoey, is a novella and a continuation of the short story, Franny. Franny has now returned home after the incident with her boyfriend Lane while she is still in a state of emotional instability. The author introduces us to the rest of the Glass family; her mother Bessie, her brothers Zooey, Buddy, Seymour. The story is told through the eyes of Buddy, their elder brother who became a writer. The novella opens with Zooey soaking in the bath tub, cigarette in hand as his mother walks in on him and without a care, expresses her concern over Franny’s distraught condition.
The banter that ensues between mother, Bessie, and child, Zooey, displays a huge difference in the intellect of the two characters. Zooey appears highly intelligent, which is a sharp contrast with his mother who seems nonchalant, to say the least. She is, however, quick to note that Zooey has become a lot like his brother Buddy, the mouthpiece of the author.
When Zooey realizes that he has upset his sister by questioning her on her determination to recite Jesus’ prayer, he retreats to his bedroom and calls her, pretending to be her other brother Buddy and although she discovers the deception, Franny continues to talk to Zooey as if he were Buddy still. As they end the conversation, they discover, together, the vital secret of Seymour’s advice. That the fat lady he urged them to work for, shine shoes for, be funny for was and is, indeed, Christ Himself.
Thesis: In the novel, Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger, the character Zooey struggles against a materialistic society, isolates himself from opportunities provided, and seeks redemption through the Fat Lady.
Main Points:
I. Zooey struggles against a conformist society
II. Zooey’s isolation from himself, people around him, and opportunities provided
III. Zooey’s is saved through the Fat Lady
Zooey struggles against the conformist American society.
Most sociological critics argue that the novella is deeply anchored in Zooey’s and Franny’s struggle against a materialistic and conformist society. The novella is set in the 1950s, a time that America was characterized and criticized for being overly conformist. Salinger does not mince words, and actions to launch a critique of the American middle and upper class; the bourgeois.
A. Portrayal of American society
Zooey and Franny tend to agree on most things, one of them being the disgust with conformists. Franny loathes anyone who wants to be like others and she is intelligent enough, as her brother rightly puts it ‘Franny's sharp enough to have noticed’, to note that even her boyfriend who pretends to be better than his lot by smoking a cigarette and standing away from others is no better. He, like other rebels, are still conformists, if not worse. Her boyfriend Lane is the epitome of such conformity; he holds a grossly misguided belief that he is better than the others, more knowledgeable and intelligent than Franny but he still craves acceptance, desperately. When he meets her, his heart swells because he is with a beautiful woman and he wants his peers to revere him for that. He would rather leave his ill girlfriend than miss a chance to hang out with his friends and probably brag about his hot girlfriend. I can tell you one thing. If he's worried about Franny at all, I'll lay odds it's for the crummiest reasons. “He's probably worried because he minded leaving the goddam football game before it was over I can just picture the little bastard getting her into a cab and putting her on a train and wondering if he can make it back to the game before the half ended” (Salinger 44).
Salinger seems to give an explanation for the genesis of the conformist American society by making a cult of celebrities a major feature in the novella and the lives of the Glasses; especially Zooey and Franny. Zooey is a highly celebrated actor whose acting career started when he was only seven years old and continues to the present. As celebrities, the Glass children were idolized and loathed in equal measure. While some people viewed them as prodigies, others regarded them as smart alecks. “The second he describes as one of the “dream worlds” children of the vaudeville team of Gallagher and Glass” (French 90).
Zooey agrees that they are extra-ordinary, freaks, in the words of those who loathe them but in essence acting and the celebrity status ascribed to actors, the Glass children included, is a form of conformist entertainment. For this reason, Zooey is critical of television and all that it represents. He criticizes the producers for changing stories to pat if only to please its massive viewership. You just call in some analyst who’s experienced in adjusting people to the joys of television, and Life magazine every Wednesday, and European travel, and the H-Bomb, and Presidential elections, and the front page of the Times, and the responsibilities of the Westport and Oyster Bay Parent-Teacher Association, and God knows what else that's gloriously normal – you just do that, and I swear to you, in not more than a year Franny's either be in a nut ward or she'll be wandering off into some goddam desert with a burning cross in her hands” (Salinger 48).
Salinger further makes fun of psychoanalysis, which was the ‘in thing’ at the time and had gained mainstream popularity. The author seems to deliberately entice the readers to come in and make the generalizations that were characteristic of psychoanalyzes theory. Bessie walks in on her naked son, and the reader cannot help but think of Oedipus complex, or its reverse. This psychoanalytic concept was advanced to explain how in the Greek Mythology, Oedipus, killed his father and married his mother. He derides psychoanalysis as a misguided step towards normalizing everyone including the Glass children who even, they, know are far from normal.
B. Struggle with materialism
The Glass family is a microcosm of the American middle class of the 1950s. The society then is represented as highly materialistic with Lane first apologizing to Franny for not taking her to a better restaurant. Further, we note that when she alights from the train, the first thing he notices is her coat.
In the Glass’ house, Zooey is seen soaking in a bath tub which is a little too materialistic. Further, we are furnished with a long list of the items in the cabinet; ex-lax , tickets and a 1946 musical comedy, “Call Me Mister.” Although the list seems unnecessary, it functions as an emphasis that objects and furnishings are regarded extremely highly. (Lundquist 127-128).
The items in the Glass household are sufficient proof that materialism is real. Although Zooey and Buddy want to be simplistic, divorcing themselves from the material things, some of their family members hold different views. Franny, for example laments “Sometimes I could almost murder Buddy for not having a phone," she said. "It's so unnecessary. How can a grown man live like that – no phone, no anything? No one has any desire to invade his privacy, if that's what he wants, but I certainly don't think it's necessary to live like a hermit." She stirred irritably, and crossed her legs. "It isn't even safe, for heaven's sake! Suppose he broke his leg or something like that. Way off in the woods like that. I worry about it all the time” (Salinger 35).
II. Isolation is a major theme throughout the novel, especially in Zooey, because Zooey not only isolates him from himself but from the people around him and the opportunities he is provided.
A. Isolation from self
Franny and Zooey understand that the path to Buddhism is in detachment; that they must let go of their egos and selfishness and instead, seek the beauty that enlightens. In this regard, Franny expresses her disgust of the section men as represented by her boyfriend Lane and her professors whom she terms as too egotistical. They seem to be too engrossed in their lives that Lane cannot sacrifice his superficial pleasure of attending a game to take care of his girlfriend who has taken ill. The result is that such egotistical people lead self-destructive and insecure lives which in turn destroy the aspects of other people’s lives. Franny, for instance, laments that the professors have ruined literature. Lane’s interest is purely on his Flaubert paper; he does not even notice that his girlfriend is not okay. He's probably worried because he minded leaving the goddam football game before it was over I can just picture the little bastard getting her into a cab and putting her on a train and wondering if he can make it back to the game before the half ended” (Salinger 44).
It is this kind of negativity of ego that Zooey seeks to detach himself from. He advises his sister, Franny that she must use her ego in the best way she knows how. She must understand that the acting talent is God given and ensure that the negative part of the ego that is so predominant in others, interfere in her journey towards the attainment of ‘no knowledge’. This, he says she can do by first of desisting from criticizing the other actors but, instead, focus on her talent as best as she can.
This, he says, is the only way an artist like herself and her brother will attain purity and they will be able to use their art for the service of others. This assertion is further reinforced by an entry in Seymour’s diary where he described the family’s selflessness in the performance they gave him during his birthday. For these reasons, Zooey is constantly seeking to detach himself from his negative ego. “Nonetheless, a few minutes earlier, when he had combed his hair, he had done so with the very minimum amount of help from the mirror” (Salinger 41).
B. Isolation from people around him
Zooey and his siblings have been in the limelight for quite some time, and their above average intelligence has enabled them to understand life and people better than most. Franny for example has deduced that most people are conformists, and even those who pretend not to be are the worst of them. The result is that she, like her brother Zooey, is unable to relate with the people she regards as pretentious. Their mother is concerned over their isolation and warns Zooey “Neither you nor Buddy knows how to talk to people you don’t like. Don’t love You can’t live in the world with such strong likes and dislikes” (Salinger 45).
Zooey justifies this isolation by saying that since they were educated by their two elder brothers in unconventional ways, they became freaks. The outcome of this unusual childhood is that so I suspect that Franny and he are both “freaks” (Kerr 237).
C. Isolation from opportunities
The Glass children extraordinary capabilities isolate them from opportunities the other ‘normal’ children enjoy. Zooey has little motivation to better himself. He degrades people with degrees and despite his mother’s insistence that he takes a Ph.D. in Math, which he is quite capable of, he is comfortable remaining an actor. “and I didn't want any degrees if all the ill-read literates and radio announcers and pedagogical dummies I knew had them by the peck” (Salinger 28).
III. Zooey becomes aware of the Fat Lady and seeks redemption in hopes of achieving spiritual peace.
A. Understanding the Fat Lady
The first time Zooey encounters the Fat Lady, he has no idea who she is. When he is reluctant to shine his shoes before they go on air, Seymour, his elder brother assumes a very Seymour (presumably serious) face and tells him to do it for the fat lady. The wild imagination of the intelligent Zooey creates a picture of this fat lady, and although it is less than flattering, he is careful to shine his shoes every time he goes on air just for the fat lady. This terribly clear, clear picture of the Fat Lady formed in my mind. I had her sitting on this porch all day, swatting flies, with her radio going full-blast from morning till night. I figured the heat was terrible, and she probably had cancer, and—I don't know. Anyway, it seemed goddam clear why Seymour wanted me to shine my shoes when I went on the air. It made sense” (Salinger 87).
Zooey constantly refers to his mother Bessie as fat and although there is no explicit indication that he thought the fat lady was indeed his mother; the description of the picture he had created in his head of the fat lady bears a striking resemblance to his mother. The fat lady was suffering from cancer, at least in the mind of the oblivious child which could be a representation of the uneducated fans of the children program the Glass children to feature in. Bessie is the embodiment of these class of people. She is far below her children’s intellectual capabilities, but this does not mean she is not worthy of their respect. At that moment, Zooey realizes that there was no specific Fat Lady and enlightens Franny. Don't you know that goddam secret yet? And don’t you know – listen to me, now – don’t you know who that Fat Lady really is? Ah, buddy. Ah, buddy. It’s Christ Himself. Christ Himself, buddy” (Salinger 87).
B. Redemption through the Fat Lady
Throughout the novel, Zooey expresses his skepticism for religion and even teases his sister who wants to learn Jesus’ prayer like the devoted pilgrim. He further criticizes Seymour’s ideas who succeeded in instilling impossibly high spiritual standards them as is summed up, quite memorably with Seymour asking Zooey to shine his shoes for the Fat Lady and Zooey finally realizing that the Fat Lady is actually Jesus Christ” (Alsen 162). When he finally gets a good understanding as to the nature of the Fat Lady, he seeks redemption. First by enlightening his sister who, until then, has been extremely conflicted by explaining to her that spirituality, just like Christ whom they have until now referred to as the Fat Lady is everywhere; even the fat and cancerous people are worthy of respect.
For the first time, depressed Franny begins to respond. She recalls Seymour telling her about the Fat Lady too. When Zooey indicates to her that the Fat Lady is everyone, it signifies the relationship of one to the many, the awareness of the many prompting the one to become humble and grateful; and finally she is “Christ Himself,” suffering, quickening the heart to sympathy, and worthy of the gift of a shoeshine” (Bryan 277).
Franny understands and appreciates that everyone is worthy of her respect and her initial wish that she could meet someone whom she could respect is granted. Now she knows who to respect: everyone. Zoey’s relationship with his mother was quite hostile but the fact that he has steered his sister towards redemption through the Fat Lady, it is safe to assume that he, too, will attain this redemption.
Works Cited
Alsen, Eberhard. Salinger's Glass Stories as a Composite Novel . NY: Whiteston Publishing Co., 1983.
Salinger, J D. Franny and Zooey. London: Penguin Book, 1994. ISBN 0-553-20348-7.
