Characterization of Seymour Glass

The short story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J. D. Salinger includes several characters: Muriel Glass and her mother, Sybil Carpenter and her mother, and Seymour Glass.

Seymour Glass is the most important character in the short story, whose inner conflict affects the whole plot.

Outer characterization

His outer characterization indicates that he is a war veteran who was hospitalized in an Army hospital, and he is married to Muriel. He probably also knows how to speak German, and he is a cultured, educated man since he reads poetry and plays the piano: “"In the Ocean Room, playing the piano. He’s played the piano both nights we’ve been here."”

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Inner characterization

The man’s inner characterization is rendered both from the perspective of other characters and through his actions and attitude.

Muriel’s mother sees him as a dangerous person, a “maniac” who has done some terrible things: “The trees. That business with the window. Those horrible things he said to Granny about her plans for passing away. What he did with all those lovely pictures from Bermuda—everything."”

Although we do not know exactly what Seymour has done, we can assume that he might have reacted aggressively, and perhaps even driven a car into some trees, the car which is now being repaired. The mother fears Seymour because she thinks he “may completely lose control of himself”.

Seymour’s wife, Muriel, does not see the man as very dangerous, however. Quite the contrary, she is content with him driving “very nicely” and does not consider him a threat to her safety.

Note, however, that in the short story the two spouses are not together physically. While Muriel is in the room, Seymour is on the beach, and their room contains twin beds rather than a double, even though they are married, which suggests there are distance and coldness between them.

On the beach, Seymour comes across as quite normal in his interactions with the little girl Sybil. He makes conversation with her and acts genuinely interested in the girl’s life:

"I was waiting for you," said the young man. "What’s new?"
"What?" said Sybil.
"What’s new? What’s on the program?"
"I’m Capricorn," he said. "What are you?"

However, we also quickly realize that something is odd about the man, as he does not seem to be able to differentiate colors:

"That’s a fine bathing suit you have on. If there’s one thing I like, it’s a blue bathing suit."
Sybil stared at him, then looked down at her protruding stomach. "This isa yellow," she said. "This is a yellow."

For this reason, he describes himself as “a fool”. In his interactions with the little girl he tries to please her, going into the water with her, but he also tries to teach her to be good to others, as they talk about the girl’s envy of Sharon Lipschutz: “I was sitting there, playing. And you were nowhere in sight. And Sharon Lipschutz came over and sat down next to me. I couldn’t push her off, could I?"

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