Causes Of Mental Breakdown In J. D. Salinger's Franny

Throughout the book Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger, Franny goes through a mental breakdown caused by the stress in her life such as school, acting and relationships. Through all that she was losing her true identity and began to take things very personal even though they weren’t intended that way. Everything was taking a toll on her life and began to change her . She discovered at the end that it’s okay to not be mad at people who are so different and end up quitting things because of those people. Most of that came from the conversation with Zooey at the end of the novel. The causes of her problems came from school, acting and the relationships not only with her family but herself. First was from her school and all the stress there. The professors at her school who she feel judges her and not only herself being judge but …show more content…
The quote used in the previous paragraph is one; it shows how she knows that she is just acting a certain way just to try and be different. That is killing her to do that becauses she knows that it isn't the right thing to do. A symbol used to help Franny is the “Fat Lady” which was told to her and Zooey by Seymour when she was little. Due to the fact of Seymour dying when she was younger to suicide would show how anything he really said would have a lasting impression on Franny. The “Fat Lady” basically represents Jesus Christ or religion in a sense “don’t you know who that Fat Lady really is?... Ah, buddy. Ah buddy. It’s Christ himself.” (pg200). At that point in the novel Franny doesn’t really feel a spiritual connection anymore and already forgotten the prayer. That could be due to her having her mental breakdown. In the end Franny feels kinda connected to the “Fat Lady”, so Zooey need to use her as an example so that Franny could ultimately feel re-connected back with Christ and get her faith back to become her true self