#anon we are drinking together (cherry coke for me) and discussing literature in a dimly-lit library filled with our favorite snacks

[fablecore]

while there is a manga and anime called "Banana Fish", i was talking about the short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J.D. Salinger. which has a uh.. dark ending. to say the least

i really like how spark notes anaylzes the meaning of the titular animal: "Bananafish, the imaginary creatures that gorge themselves on bananas and then die of banana fever, represent Seymour and his struggles to reengage with society after returning from the war. Seymour, an outsider in a world that seems to be guided by materialism, greed, and pettiness, has no real outlet for the complicated emotions he carries around inside him. He has been psychologically damaged by the war and, having been released early from the Army hospital, is clearly not getting the care he needs. Muriel and her family exist in a world he does not understand, and his behavior in that world is inappropriate, disturbing, and dangerous. His devotion to Sybil and other children reveals his heartbreaking yearning for innocence and clarity, feelings that have no outlet in the adult world. Just as the bananafish become too fat to leave their holes, Seymour is 'fat' from the overflow of painful emotions he cannot express. At the end of the story, he, like the bananafish, dies."

considering sophie's endearingly immature nature, her wicked intelligence, her own traumas with war, and her own sets of devotion for simpler and freer things WITH the association of fruit in the word "Banana Fish" + bananas being yellow and sophie's blonde hair being such an important symbol in the story (+ Seymour and Sophie both starting with S if you wanna get real "grasping at strings" here)--- the tenative connections made me scared of you ever using the term "banana fish" (it's used often in my english classes when talking about similar characters as Seymour. hence, me bring primed to make the connection at any slight parallel), and i thought id share the idea anyway in case youd find my reaction funny. not because i think it will actually happen (it would be kinder if you gouged me with a spoon, if you now feel like titling anything with sophie after banana fish lmao rip)

i hope that all makes sense??? i know thats a lot of info to dump im not sure how else to better explain things, since, unfortunately, explanations are not really my forte

a thing i was not expecting today: literary analysis of mnp connecting it to themes of published classics!! and i mean that in the best way possible. this is so endearing omg. i wondered if it was salinger's banana fish or the animanga banana fish, but i went with the latter since. waves around at blog. i genuinely love this. i'm not above adding a reference to banana fish in the last chapter of mnp or mnp part ii. i will add though that sophie's normal life differs pretty extremely from seymour's because most of the characters around her are also banana fish! and in the vein of one piece, they're not the type of banana fish who die in various gory ways, but the type who throws parties together and embraces what remaining joy there is in their extremely dark and terrible and funny world 🌼🍌🐡