[Bananafish] Sorry

[Michael J ANELLO]

Sorry 'bout all the incorrect stuff yesterday, I was in a rush and my head was full of mush.  Here's my attempt to clear it out.  I don't know if there's any point to it.  But who the hell knows.
 
1917, Seymour born. 1919, Buddy born.  Salinger born. 1921, Boo Boo born. 1923, the twins, Walt and Waker, are born. 1924, Seymour, age 7, writes a letter home from Camp Hapworth.  Buddy is 5.  Salinger is 5. 1926, a very consequential party happens*Seymour 9, Buddy 7, Salinger 7. 1927, Seymour, 10, and Buddy, 8, appear on the Wise Child program.  Salinger is 8. 1930, Zooey born. 1934, Franny born.  At ten months old, Seymour, 17, tells her the Taoist tale of Duke Mu and Po Lo.  Buddy is 15.  Salinger is 15. 1942, May 22 or 23rd, Buddy gets Boo Boo's letter telling him that Seymour's getting married and Buddy has to be there.  Boo Boo, a secretary/ensign in the Waves, must be pregnant already with Lionel, because he is born sometime in 1942*presumably Admiral Buttpincher is the father. June 4, Seymour, age 25, marries Muriel Fedder.  Boo Boo is 21.  Zooey is 13.  Franny is 8.  Buddy is 23.  Salinger is 23. 1945, late autumn, Walter Glass is killed in Japan.  He was 22 years old. 1946, October, Boo Boo is 25, Seymour is 29 and has been married 4 years*he'll be dead in 2.  Buddy is 27 years old.  Salinger is 27 years old.  Lionel is 4. 1948, Jan. 31, a month after Salinger's 29th birthday, "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" is published in the New Yorker.  The story takes place a month and a half in the FUTURE, on March 18, 1948, recounts the day that Seymour commits suicide at age 31 while on vacation with his wife.  Buddy is 29.  Salinger is 29. Mar. 18, Seymour dies.  Seems like he was freshly back from overseas, though the war was over in 1945.  Muriel waited for him while he was overseas.  Where was Sergeant X for those 3 years?  In a crazy house?  In the CIA?  Is Salinger confused about whether he is Seymour or Buddy?  Are the Glass children right about Buddy's Bananafish story*that the Seymour in the story is more like their Buddy than their Seymour? May.  Buddy says that he wrote "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" a couple months after Seymour's death.  Ergo, May 1948.  Why the discrepancy you think*between Salinger's January 1948 Bananafish*and Buddy's May 1948 Bananafish? 1949, April, "Down At The Dinghy" published in Colliers.  Seymour has been dead 1 year.  Buddy mentions him in the story.  The goggles Lionel flips into the water belong to Buddy.  They used to belong to Seymour.  It feels as if Seymour is dead, however the story takes place in 1946, when Boo Boo is 25, and Seymour is still alive.  In 1949, Boo Boo is 28, and Lionel is 7 years old. 1951, March 18, Buddy writes Zooey the "bathtub" letter.  It is the 3rd anniversary of Seymour's death.  Zooey is 21.  Buddy is 32.  Salinger is 32. 1955, January, in the story "Franny", it is 1955.  Franny is 21.  Zooey is 25.  Seymour died 7 years ago at the age of 31.  Buddy is 36.  Salinger is 36. November, in the story "Raise High The Roof Beams", it is 1955.  Buddy recounts Seymour's June 1942 wedding day.  Seymour died 7 years ago.  In 1942, he would only have 6 years to live.  6 years married to Muriel. 1957, May, in the story "Zooey", it is still 1955.  BANANAFISH IN THE FUTURE, ZOOEY IN THE PAST.  Buddy is still 36 in the story.  However, Salinger is now 38.  In 1957, Buddy would be 38.  In 1957, Seymour died 9 years ago, and would have been 40. 1959, in the story "Seymour An Introduction", it is 1959.  Buddy is 40.  Salinger is 40.  Seymour died 11 years ago. *6 years pass 1965, May 28, in the story "Hapworth".  Buddy is 46.  Salinger is 46.  Seymour died 17 years ago*he would have been 48 in 1965.  The story is a letter from Camp Hapworth by Seymour, age 7, in 1924.  Buddy was 5 at the time.  So was Salinger.  In 1924, Seymour won't be dead for another 24 years. 24 years, being how long Salinger has been a writer.

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