She’s crying and there’s a lull in the conversation. The first insight came after Zooey critiques Franny on her spiritual approach. As Franny puts it, they’re bothered by “the same kind of things” and “for the same reasons.”įrom the novella, I gathered two insights.

We get the sense that Zooey is just like Franny, but older.

In the novella “Zooey”, Zooey, who’s 25, helps Franny through her spiritual breakdown. quit? Quit English and university and theater altogether? The answer's got to be no, right? Fish sometimes forget they're in the water and we sometimes forget we're in the game.īut Franny, is it the right move to just. Do those come from a place of ego? Is that my subconscious, trying to signal I am ambitious and have worth?īecause like fish swim in water, we swim in games of status and ego. I think of my interest in doing startups. And I too am a status-seeking monkey, a phony. I've come to a similar conclusion, that life is but status games, in series and in parallel. I’m sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash. “I mean it's all the most incredible farce”, she says.Īt another, she explains why she quit her passion, theater: Just because I’m so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else’s values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn’t make it right.Īnd later: I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. During their lunch together, she starts to have a bit of a breakdown.Īt one point, Franny explains if it weren't so late, she'd drop her major, English. In the short story “Franny”, Franny meets her boyfriend Lane for a football weekend at his college. I even got goosebumps when her brother Zooey finally talks to Franny. And I love the Glass family and their oh-so-subtle care for one another. I love the backstreets into religion and philosophy. I love the word choice and turns of phrase and wit. I've read the book twice now and I adore it. The 1961 book comprises of a short story titled 'Franny' and a novella 'Zooey”. So when Zooey tries to talk Franny out of her funk, we get not only a case study of familial love but also an intellectual exploration of a spiritual crisis.įranny and Zooey are the youngest siblings of the Glass Family, characters from J.D. But unlike Holden, Franny-and her brother, Zooey-were raised on world religion by their two eldest brothers.

Like a certain Holden Caulfield, Franny sees the people around her as egotistical and “phony'. She says: I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. College student Franny Glass is in an existential funk.

The book franny and zooey