Narrative Drive

Narrative Drive

The narrative drive in the stories “Home” and “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” are different for a couple of reasons, although both still effective. “Home” is a much shorter, more concise story about returning to the town you grow up in. Since it’s so much shorter, it is easier to stay focused the whole time you’re reading it, and uses quirky characters and wild situations to keep the story flowing. The dialogue, much of it drunken or violent (or both), adds a comical aspect that makes “Home” an interesting read.
“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is much longer, and contains much more dialogue. The first half of the story is a telephone conversation between a far too overprotective mother and her married daughter. The comedy behind the mother’s over-anxiousness and her daughters frustration helps keep the plot moving along, until the story suddenly switches to a young man playing on the beach with a little girl, Sybil Carpenter. It becomes clear that the young mans intentions with Sybil are increasingly inappropriate, and she runs away from him. The addition of these new characters after an extended phone call also contributes to the advancement of the story, which ends on a sad note with the young man shooting himself.