Post #5

Franny and Zooey
pages 107-174

In this heated section of Franny and Zooey, we finally see the two main characters interact. Zooey confronts Franny about her breakdown, and he goes on to explain that she has only done this to herself, creating conflicting thoughts while trying to lose this sense of "ego" she hates so much. He explains that he went through the same thing, and that the unpleasant pessimism is brought about by being a "wise child" from the Glass family. He also tries to tell her that her religious studies arn't helpful, and she will ultimately have to change herself instead of using the ultimately useless, constant prayer.

Salinger continues to use the force of action and narration over dialogue, even when important dialogue between characters occurs. The reader learns quickly, after growing accustomed to his style, to read between just what the characters say, and look deeper into their narrated thoughts and actions. The dialogue in Franny and Zooey gives the reader a great deal less information than the narration, and throughout the book this has been a constant stylistic theme.

Salinger also goes into great detail, often to describe a characters unspoken thoughts or narrated actions. This is definitely an element of Salinger's writing that makes him unique and interesting to read. The characters thoughts are almost overly-analytical, but at the same time do not disclose too much blatant information about the character. By only describing their thoughts or actions at the time, Salinger allows the reader to compile information about a character by viewing their actions over time, which is a technique that I feel is rarely used in modern day literature. Often, a characters goals and personality traits are laid out for the reader right away, creating a faster paced story, but a less interesting character development. This is one of Salinger's literary quirks, and indeed makes his writing unique.