From 1940 to 1953, Salinger published successively over thirty short stories, however, studies on Salinger's short stories are still remain enormous developing space for various reasons。 Salinger’s scholars focus more on the study of The Catcher in the Rye and only some scholars mentioned “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” while analyze historical background, themes, stylistic skills of Salinger’s works。 Yet a more comprehensive understanding of Salinger requires an overall analysis of all the factors that contribute to the literature production。 It is necessary to make a deep anatomy of Salinger’s early works and let Chinese academic circle pay more attention to Salinger's literary legacy。文献综述

It is significant for us to figure out the causes of Seymour’s suicide if we want to have a better understanding of Salinger's novel, his theme, his thought and his attitude towards life and death。 Concerning for death foundationally means concerning for life。 It is inevitable for a writer to explore the meaning of life, therefore, it is also inevitable for a writer to confront with death, think about death。 Salinger let Seymour suicide in the end, it must contain his view of death and life。

1。2 A Brief Introduction of “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a short novel by J。 D。 Salinger, published in The New Yorker in 1948, and became the first story in Salinger’s 1953 collection, Nine Stories。 The story begins with Seymour’s wife, Muriel, having a telephone conversation with her mother at a hotel in Florida, continues with Seymour talking and playing with a 4-year-old girl named Sybil on the beach, and ends with Seymour coming back to the hotel and shooting himself in the head。 In the last sentence of this novel Seymour Glass “fired a bullet through his right temple” (Salinger, 1948) which leaves us a mystery of Seymour’s suicide。