American Literature Commons^™

The Pleasantly Problematic Nature Of J.D. Salinger's Glass Family Stories, Ceasare Joseph Filipelli

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The following thesis analyzes the problematic nature of J.D. Salinger’s principal Glass family stories (“A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” “Franny,” “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,” “Zooey,” “Seymour: an Introduction,” and “Hapworth 16, 1924”) primarily by means of examining errors in narrative structure, complications in constructing a clearly defined sense of spirituality, and a lack of a functional organization between stories. I argue that although these components of Salinger’s Glass family stories ultimately prove to be problematic and account for inconsistencies within the overarching narrative, they are a product of experimentation with form and, as such, should be viewed positively …