zooey cam- the analysis

OnyxLust@aol.com
Thu, 11 Mar 1999 22:28:12 -0500 (EST)

This is a analysis written at four in the morning, and looking back at it =
the
fat lady part in the conclusion either need expounded upon or cut out
entirely. What does everyone think?

~Megan

Intelligently Religious?

J.D.  Salinger  examines  through  the  characters  Franny  and  Zooey  Gl=
ass
the  struggle  between  religion  and  intelligence  in  the  book  Franny
and  Zooey. The  book  is  divided  up  into  two  sections,  the  first
section,  Franny,  deals  with  an  introduction  to  Franny,  the  charac=
ter
that  represents  the  religious  side  of  the  conflict.  The  second
section  introduces  Zooey,  who  embodies  the  intelligent  part  of  th=
e
struggle,  and  verbalized  the  struggle  with  Franny.
At  the  beginning  of  Franny  the  reader  is  introduced  not  to  Fran=
ny,
but  to  her  boyfriend  Lane.  Although  not  part  of  the  religious
struggle,  he  personifies  everything  in  Franny's  life  that  had  cau=
sed
her  to  seek  religion.  The  setting  is  in  a  restaurant  where  she
loses  patience  with  him,  and   puts  down  everything  he  wants  to  =
talk
about,  because  it  all  seems  fake  to  her. The  only  thing  she  had
anything  pleasant  to  say  about  was  when  Lane  asks  her  about  a
little  book  he  sees  in  her  purse.  This  is  the  same book  the  re=
ader
saw  her  pull  out  in  a  bathroom  stall  after  she  cried  for  five
solid  minutes  and  "=85she  gazed  down  at  it,  as  if  that  were  th=
e
best  of  all  places  for  a  small  pea-greened  clothbound  book  to  b=
e."
(22) The  book,  as  Franny  explains  to  Lane,  is  about  one  man's
pilgrimage  to  discover  how  to  pray  incessantly.  Very  passionately
Franny  explains  "The  prayer  becomes  self  active=85the  words  get
synchronized  with  the  person's  heartbeats,  and  then  you're  actuall=
y
praying  without  ceasing." (36) She  tells  him  this  after  the  bathro=
om
scene,  and  Lane  responds  with  raised  eyebrows  "You  actually  belie=
ve
that  stuff,  or  what?" (38)  He  then  ties  religious  experiences  to
"=85elementary  psychology."  Franny  all  most  immediately  stood  up,  =
and
excused  herself  to  the  bathroom.  On  the  way  there  she  paused,
weaved  a  little  bit,  and  passed  out.  After  a  few  minutes  she  c=
ame
to  in  the  restaurant  manager's  office,  where  Lane  takes  care  of =
 her
and  then  goes  to  find  a  cab.  When  Franny  was  alone,  "Her lips
began  to  move,  forming  soundless  words,  and  they  continued  to mov=
e."
(43) It  is  clear  that  Franny  is  struggling  with  religion  because =
 it
is  all  that  she  can  focus  on  and  it  is  giving  her  physical  si=
de
effects,  such  as  a  lack  of  appetite,  and  passing  out.
=09The  second  half  of  the  book,  Zooey,  begins  with  Zooey  Glass
reading  a  letter  from  one  of  his  older  brothers  in  the  bathtub.=
  It
discloses  Zooey  as  an  actor  who  has  chosen  to  pursue  his  career
rather  than  pursue  what  had  already  been  a  rather  extensive
education.  Then  Zooey's  mother  barged  into  the  bathroom  despite
protestations  from  Zooey,  and  decides  to  invade  his  privacy  for
sixty-two  pages.  Among  a  multitude  of   other  things,  his  mother
brings  up  that  she  is  worried  about  his  sister,  Franny, because  =
she
is  "=85laying  there  by  the  hour  crying  her  eye's  out  if  you  sa=
y  boo
to  her,  and  mumbling  heaven  knows  what  to herself=85"(83)  Zooey
explains  to  his  mom what  is  wrong  with  Franny, and  in  doing  so,
tells  her  about  the  religious  book  Franny   keeps with  her  at  all
times.  He  points  out  the  fact  that  in  the  book,  the  prayer  mad=
e
the  man  happy,  and  subtly  suggests  that  Franny  is  upset  because =
 her
prayer  is  not  working.  His  mom  finally  left  the  bathroom  after
urging  the  now  dressed  Zooey  to  talk  to  his  sister  before  leavi=
ng.
Zooey  approaches  Franny  sleeping  on  the  couch,  and  wakes  her  fro=
m  a
nightmare.  In  the  dream  a  bunch  of  people  she  knows  keep  forcin=
g
her  to  go  underwater,  and  she  can  not  figure  out  why.  The  wate=
r
represents  religion  to  her,  and  the  people  forcing  her  under  is =
 her
struggle  with  religion, or  more  precisely,  her  intelligence  struggl=
ing
with  her  religious  undertaking.  They  begin  talking,  just  catching =
 up,
but  then  she  started  talking  about  how  shallow  everything  seems  =
to
her.  This  gives  Zooey  his  opening  to  talk  to  her,  where  he  mak=
es
the  argument  for  the  intelligent  side  of   the  struggle.
What  do  you  think  your  doing  with  the  Jesus  Prayer?=85aren't  you
trying  to  lay  up  some  kind  of  treasure?  Something  that  is  every=
 
 goddam  bit  as  negotiable  as  all  those  other,  more  material  thin=
gs?
=85As  a  matter  of  simple  logic, there's  no  difference  at  all,  th=
at  I 
 can  see,  between  the  man  who's  greedy  for  material  treasure-  or=
  
even  intellectual  treasure-  and  the  man  who's  greedy  for  spiritua=
l 
 treasure. (147)

She  defends  herself,  saying  that  she  knows  that  she  is  just  as
self-seeking  as  everyone  else.  She  utters  that  it  is  her  motives
for  saying  the  prayer  that worry  her,  and  that  she  doesn't  need =
 him
to  tell  her.  At  this  point  she  starts  crying,  and  after  an
interval  he  offers  to  get  their  older  brother  on  the  phone  for
her.  He  then  starts listing  how  she  is  going  about  her  religious
fanaticism  wrong,  and  the  last  thing  he  lists  is  that  she  doesn=
't
understand  Jesus,  and  therefor  shouldn't  say  the  Jesus  Prayer  bec=
ause
it  doesn't  take  care  of  your  problems  for  you.  Zooey  says  that =
"=85if
you  have  intelligence  enough  to  see  that-  and  you  do-  and  yet  =
you
refuse  to  see  it,  then  you  are  misusing  the  prayer. You're  using=
  it
to  ask  for  a  world  full  of   dolls  and  saints."  (170-171)  
Franny  started  crying  really  hard,  and  Zooey,  realizing  his  siste=
r's
condition,  turned  pale  with  anxiety.  He  goes  into  his  older
brothers'  abandoned  room,  in  which  he  took  time  to  get  into
character,   and  then  called  Franny  on  a  separate  phone-line,
pretending  to  be  his  older  brother  Buddy.  Franny  fell  for  it  at
first,  but  soon  realized  it  was  Zooey  just  trying  to  comfort  he=
r.
Zooey  didn't  realize  the  solution  to  his  and  Franny's   discord  t=
ill
the  end,  when  he  says  "You  can  say  the  Jesus  Prayer  from  now  =
till
doomsday,  but  if  you  don't  realize  that  the  only  thing  that  cou=
nts
in  the  religious  life  is  detachment,  I  don't  see  how  you  will  =
ever
move  an  inch."  He  tells  her  not  to  give  up  on  the  rest  of  he=
r
life,  and  puts  religion  in  terms  of  the  Fat  Lady, the  religious
character  of  their  childhood.  This  so  simplifies  things  for  her  =
that
she  can  barely  hold  the  phone she  is  so  full  of  joy,  and  after
they  get  of  the  phone  Franny  crawls  into  bed,  and  falls  into  a
quiet  sleep,  smiling.  
As  Salinger  developed  the  symbolism  in  each  character  to  examine =
 the
ongoing  struggle  between  religion  and  intelligence,  he  also  found =
 a
conclusion  to  it. While  Franny  embodied  the  religious  side  of  the
struggle,  and  she  was  the  cause,  Zooey  played  not  only  the
intelligent  side  of  the  dissension,  but  also  became  the  tool  to =
 fix
it.  Franny  started  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  story  as overwhel=
med,
became  depressed,  but  with  some harsh  intelligence  (Zooey)  found
resolution. Through the part in the plot each character plays, the struggl=
e
between  religion  and  intelligence  is  clearly  seen.