Zooey

Since I have such a laid back job (lifeguarding, woohoo!), reading definitely helps to pass the time. In fact, I'm almost finished with Franny and Zooey. I'm far into the portion of the book that's written in Zooey's, a Glass son, point of view. He's an interesting character. I'd say he's kind of the rebel of the family. The siblings before him were great scholars and went off to attain well respected and advanced careers. However, I think partially due to the corruption of his childhood, Zooey wants to pursue a career in the theater department. The only think is, he kind of sucks. Salinger inserts a small part of a play Zooey is writing into the book and it is so dull and mediocre.
In a letter from his older brother, Zooey learns that his older siblings pushed several religious and philosophical theories on him when he was young. They provided Zooey with a lot of information about different gods and probable theories concerning life, but his brothers never showed him how to apply this exposure to his life. Therefore, I think that's why Zooey is overly sensitive and strongly wants to be different from others. I think it'd be really overwhelming to have all these possible ways to live your life thrown at you as a young learning child. Growing up, my parents taught me their one certain way to live; plus I learned the traditions and beliefs of Catholicism. It would be really hard to determine what particular way to live life with so many options, or always having the "What if?" in the back of your mind. This confusing childhood education explains why Zooey struggles in life now. He wants others to support his pursuit to act and the choices in life he makes.
One person that most certainly doesn't understand him is his mother, Bessie. They have one of the strangest relationships I have yet to see. In order to communicate with her son, Bessie traps Zooey in the bathroom was he's in the tub and forces him to talk. Most of the time they are arguing or having to explain themselves to each other. It's a very distant kinship mostly due to Zooey's outcast behavior. Bessie has a hard time understanding any of her children, but especially Zooey. Speaking of, what a weird name..Zooey. It's pronounced Zoo-E. You won't see my naming my kids that in the future.