Annotated Bibliography
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Updike, John. “Anxious Days For The Glass Family.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Sept. 1961, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/13/specials/salinger-franny01.html?_r=3. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023
American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic, John Updike wrote a criticism for the New York Times on Franny and Zooey. Updike provides a harsh critique of Salinger as a writer and believes the novel was written for Salinger’s own personal indulgences. He explores the idea that Salinger has many weak points as a writer, one being composition, which in turn made the reading of Franny and Zooey for Updike discordant between the two sections. Despite all the criticisms, Updike describes the novel as an accurate depiction of American life and would be a recognizable story for readers who were reading the novel when it was first published in 1961. Updike concludes his review with the note that while it is obvious Salinger is expressing his obsession through the obsessions and crises of his characters, it reflects what so many artists and entertainers have done in their careers to pursue a direction.
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Hamilton, Kenneth. “One Way to Use the Bible: The Example of J. D. Salinger.” The Christian Scholar, vol. 47, no. 3, 1964, pp. 243–51. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41177517. Accessed 23 Nov. 2023.
Writer of the article Kenneth Hamilton provides a religious analysis of the novel Franny and Zooey. Hamilton delves into Salinger heavily including Christian scripture in a handful of his works. Hamilton analyzed while religious aspects are not so apparent to readers in Catcher in the Rye and it is much more apparent in Franny and Zooey. Hamilton inevitably comes to the conclusion that the structure in which religion holds within the characters of the novel is that they view christianity as more of a heart-Europe philosophy above anything else. Due to that, Hamilton examines the spirituality as a whole and how that leads some characteristics specifically into a crisis. Hamilton’s reflection on the crisis is quite critical and comes to the assertion that there is an issue with the other mythical literary works the characters read and how it not only presents an issue with the characters relationship with spirituality but society’s as a whole.
Sharp, Joann. “Subjectivity.” International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition), Elsevier, 4 Dec. 2019, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780081022955108698?via%3Dihub.
Joanne Sharp is a professor of Geography and Sustainable Development at University of St Andrews and within her article she defines subjectivity and how it differs from objectivity. The context in which Sharp discusses subjectivity is in regards to georgaprhs’ history and the role of social locations. She explores the idea that the relationships formed in those social locations shape an individual's understanding of the world. Overall, Sharp examines the bias and perception that occurs based on the social location one grows within and how there is a long standing debate about identity and the psychological and emotional characteristics that influence body knowledge.
Lepore, Jill. “Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?” The New Yorker, 17 May 2021, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/24/burnout-modern-affliction-or-human-condition. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.
Jill Lepore, writer for The New Yorker provides a detailed history of Burnout and how as time continues psychotherapists and other professionals are becoming more and more concerned. Lepore contextualizes that the term Burnout was first coined and truly recognized in 1973 but the issue itself has been long standing. Lepore discusses how even in the bible there are nods to biblical figures like moses showing signs of burnout that are widely recognized today. Lepore further contextualizes burnout by providing numerous definitions to burnout acknowledging that generations perceive burnout differently even though some generations will be completely scathed from burnout. Lepore concludes with the point that one is immune to burnout regardless of what critics argue or try to state is part of a feminist revolution or the rejection of hard work.
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Jones, Doug. “Group Nepotism and Human Kinship.” Current Anthropology, vol. 41, no. 5, 2000, pp. 779–809. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1086/317406. Accessed 23 Nov. 2023.
Writer of the article, Doug Jones a professor of Anthropology at University of Utah examines the theory of kin selection and the overall effect this theory may have on human kinship. Jones assesses that the bond and relationship between kin is greater when two or more mutual kin assist a fellow kin. He therefore explains that the connections or nepotism as he puts it contracts a group enforcing ethical and altruistic relationships in kin. Jones dives into what the group nepotism is defined as and what sets it apart from others. Jones wraps up his article with a call to action, enforcing the idea that group nepotism has implications for numerous research areas in social sciences.
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Glazier, Lyle. “The Glass Family Saga: Argument and Epiphany.” College English, vol. 27, no. 3, 1965, pp. 248–51. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/373117.
Lyle Glazier, writer of the article asserts the same criticism many others have noted of Salinger's work, he is using his characters to selfishly tell his own story and beliefs. Glazier clarified however that that criticism isn’t always viewed as a bad thing. In their analysis, it takes Salinger’s intellectual stimulus to create developed characters who also have a need to be intellectually stimulated constantly. The need for intellectual stimulation is a major point of reflection for Glazier. They explore how this need has affected the differing ages of siblings within Franny and Zooey and how it is clear this need makes way for the younger siblings to have a more realistic view to life and the phoniness of American society.
Abstract
J.D. Salinger is well known for his many works, one in particular being Franny and Zooey. Within Franny and Zooey, the characters' struggles with the societal system of the 1950s society reflect the conflict between individuals and familial expectations, exposing underlying themes of language, culture, and identity. In the novel, the Glass family is a well-off family in New York that invested in their children at a young age to essentially be child stars of the 1940s-50s. This left the children with some strong intellectual entitlement, however, it is not without any struggles. Franny Glass spends a majority of the book in a debilitating spiritual crisis. The burden of entitlement alters them and faces them with human subjectivity. Through using structuralism and cultural studies focused on the 50s in which the book is set will contextualize the mental process of the characters. It will examine how the book reflects the culture of the 50s, while also focusing on patterns within the text. The book is riddled with religion and spirituality, and comprehending the context in which the introspection process occurs through this will provide a deeper understanding of the characters and how as the book progresses, the Glass siblings melt together by the end.