“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a critique of American values and social expectations following World War II. The postwar era was marked by a sense of disillusionment among Americans. The country had just emerged from the devastating conflict that claimed millions of lives, and many Americans were left questioning the values and institutions that had led to the war. J. D. Salinger captures this sense of disillusionment in Seymour Glass, a sensitive and intelligent man who is deeply disturbed by the world around him.

Seymour’s experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) undermine postwar-era values and thematically develop The Psychological Effects of War. PTSD was not widely understood or recognized as a mental health condition at the time, and many veterans like Seymour were left with no mental health resources. Seymour’s isolation and inability to connect with others mirror the social and psychological struggles many veterans experienced during this period. Salinger suggests that society’s elevation of material wealth and status post–World War II exacerbated this emptiness and despair. Seymour’s inability to communicate with his wife and his apparent disinterest in the consumerist culture around him suggest a fundamental disconnect between himself and the society he is expected to rejoin.