Salinger's Seymor Glass : looking for horses in his stead

A fairly large amount of critical material has been devoted to the later stories of J. D. Salinger, the Glass stories; much of this material is concerned with examining the character of Seymour Glass and his influence on his siblings. Many critics are in agreement that Seymour functions as a spiritual leader and that he is in some way related to Zen Buddhism. The purpose of this study is to examine the Glass stories and the existing criticism in the light of a Zen influence. The study provides a clearer definition of Zen principles in Salinger's writing than is presently available, and it provides a definition of Zen enlightenment and Zen as a school of Mahayana Buddhism. From an examination of Mahayanism, this study defines the function of the Bodhisattva—one who seeks his own enlightenment and, who, once enlightened seeks enlightenment for others as well—thus illustrating how Seymour Glass functions as a Bodhisattva in relation to his siblings.

Seymour's suicide in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is seen not as the act of a desperate man, but as the act of a Bodhisattva unable to communicate the Way to others. In death, Seymour communicates his message through his siblings, mainly through Buddy's writing. As Bodhisattva, Seymour is responsible for Franny's education, which in turn is partly responsible for her spiritual crisis. However, through Seymour's message, Zooey is able to lead Franny out of her crisis in Franny and Zooey. In Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters; and Seymour: An Introduction, Buddy comes to understand Seymour's role as Bodhisattva more fully; the form of "Seymour: An Introduction" is accounted for in terms of a Zen-like breaking down of barriers between author and reader. Finally, in "Hapworth 16, 1924" (the last published Seymour story) Seymour is seen in the first stage of Bodhisattvahood. In essence, then, Salinger works backwards from Seymour's suicide to the seven-year-old Seymour, as if to explain the final outcome of Seymour's life.