Zooey and Franny are two intelligent young siblings who come from one of the successful families. In spite the fact that they come from a successful family, there is nothing, which hinders them from developing a bitter, cynical view of the world that intimidates their stability of their minds. Frances is the real name given to Franny and Zachary is the real name given to Zooey. Zooey is 20 years old and his sister Franny is 25 years old, in essence, they are separated by 5 years. They two youngest children of the Glass family, which is a family of seven children As Franny lies sleeplessly on the living on the sofa at the living room, their mother is busy communicating with Zooey, the mother loves and is concerned with him.
When Zooey entered the living room, he found Franny lying on the sofa crying. Zooey tells her about his incapability to be kind to people, finding slip with everything and frequently criticizing others. Franny tells her brother that she equally the same thing to Lane. Later, she hints that she does not want to go back to her college, saying that everyone there was full of ‘phony' or ‘ego.' She was very discouraged and felt scared to go back to college.
However, instead of Zooey consoling and advising his sister, he lashes out at Franny. He informs her that the breakdown was not a genuine one claiming that she came home to look for it. Zooey's character shows that he does not believe in Jesus and prayer. When Franny prays over the matter, he tells her that Jesus was not a good person. He is not concerned at all, instead of consoling his sister, he adds more pain making things harder. On the other hand, Franny is Christian, who believes in the powers of prayers.
Since Franny was young, she learns about the way of the pilgrim. She was raised in the family where crisis theology and Buddhism were not discussed at all. Despite the strict status, Franny struggles to attain stable religion. St. Francis of Assisi, Seymer and Heidis's grandfather acted as her role models.
Franny can be described as a faithful Christian, she believes in the powers of the of prayer. When she was in trouble, Franny could not hesitate to pray hoping for a proper solution. On the other hand, Zooey believed nothing about Jesus, she tells Franny that Jesus was not a good person, he is a pagan. Bessie is a loving and caring mother; she shows the virtue of love to her children.
Seymour and Buddy are dominated by the religious wisdom of the East, they believed so much on the way of the pilgrimage. Thus, they saturated Franny in the Eastern religion.
The ‘Fat Lady' as said by Franny, is a phrase used by Seymour to describe Jesus Christ. Seymour tells Zooey to shine his shoes and do the best for the Fat Lady, by this; he means that one should do the best for God. Finally, this advice turns the moods and perception of Zooey towards religion.
The whole story is all about the challenges a believer faces in life, the struggles by different characters throughout the entire story indicates the importance of praying in Jesus Christ. The story ends well because finally it is declared that Jesus Christ is the ‘Fat Lady,' therefore, one should do the best for God; God becomes the final solution. The story ends by Franny sleeping while smiling as a sign of satisfactory and victory.
Works Cited
Salinger, J D. Franny and Zooey. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1961.
