塞林格《九故事》中美国梦的破碎(3)
He believes that American dream is not cars or high salary but akind of social order. Under this social order, man and woman regardless of their race, backgroundand status can achieve the best and be acknowledged by the society.A Perfect Day for Bananafish in the story collection Nine stories depicts a young married couple ontheir Florida vocation. The scene switch from an seaside hotel room to the beachfront area wherethe main character Seymour is having an intriguing conversation with a little girl named Sybil.When they are catching a bananafish, Seymour proceeds to tell her a whimsical story, which called“the very tragic life” of the bananafish. After a perfect ends, Seymour returns to the hotel and put abullet into his own head. This specific story is chosen for the reason that it shows the bright side ofAmerican society and at the same time the unnoticeable greedy adult world, casting a opposition ofwhat the American dream stand for,which is industrious, equality and tolerance.Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut is the second story in Nine Stories. Mary Jane visits Eloise in herhouse, talking a lot about their college life which lasts only about one and a half year. After a shortconversation with Eloise’s daughter, Mary Jane learns the story about Walt Glass, the man Eloisedeeply loves and also the man died in the army. At the end of the story, the very drunken Eloisemakes Mary Jane assure her that she is a good girl when she was a freshman in college. What wecan tell is that the war is by no means just a sign a evolution, it is also a absolute calamity than cancause the loss of basic human feelings, the escape from the reality, the fear of remembering andrecalling. These are all Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut shows us, running in the opposite direction ofwhat American dream advocates us, the courage to seek for love.