Similarities Between the First Three Stories

I noticed three similar themes the the first three short stories that we have read.

1. Youth. In Bananafish, youth and innocence is a big theme. Everything from the blue bathing suit vs. the yellow bathing suit to Seymour kissing Sybil's feet shows that Seymour really wishes that Sybil would just stay young forever. He even may have shot himself because he didn't want to see Sybil grow up. In Uncle Wiggly, Eloise's youth is glorified through her memory. She has nothing to look forward to, so she looks back to the great memories she has of herself as a young Eloise, happy to be with Walt, the love of her life. Another thing that shows the theme youth in Uncle Wiggly is Ramona. Ramona is pure, which is shown by the fact that her "beaus" are imaginary. In Just Before the War, Selena and Ginnie are in their late teens or early twenties, and their bickering and dramatic quarrels are much more lighthearted than Eloise and Mary Jane's.

2. War. In Bananafish, the whole story was centered around Seymour's PTSD, and how it affected his actions. His not-so-great marriage, his weird relationship with little girls, and his suicide were all possibly due to the post-war state of his mental stability. In Uncle Wiggly, Eloise's one love was killed in World War II, which led to her unhappy marriage through the rest of her life. In Just Before the War, Salinger alludes to the war, but doesn't mention it head on. Instead he kind of skirts around it using light jokes, but WWII and possibly the upcoming Korean War (fighting the Eskimos) are hinted at.

3. Love. All three of these stories reflect some sort of not satisfying "love". in Bananafish, Muriel and Seymour have an awful marriage. They clearly do not love each other very much, especially after the war once Seymour's PTSD affected their relationship. Two things that hint at this are the crossing and uncrossing of Muriel's legs while she talks to her mother. The second thing is the fact that a married couple sleeps in two twin beds while on vacation. In Uncle Wiggly, Eloise's love is not satisfying. The person she really loved, Walt, died in the war and she married someone she doesn't love as much, Lew. This leads to her being extremely unhappy, especially when she is thinking about Walt and comparing him to Lew. In Just Before the War, Franklin is not happy with his love life, either. He is clearly in love with Ginnie's sister Joan and is visibly upset to learn that she is engaged.