The Fifties Are A Time That A Lot Of Nostalgic Older...

The Fifties are a time that a lot of nostalgic older individuals look back to as a time that they appreciated, a time better than today. This was a time after world war two, and consisted of many veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and having trouble reintegrating into society. This was also a time that saw economic expansion and the rise of materialism and consumerism. In response to this, Salinger wrote the story called â€Å"A Perfect Day for Banafish†. The story takes place during the fifties. Married couple Seymour and Muriel Glass are staying at a hotel. Muriel’s mother talks about how weird Seymour is, and the weird things Seymour has done. Muriel couldn’t care less, as she is engaged in painting her nails, fixing her†¦show more content†¦They started advertising on Radios, car ads, Billboards, Magazines, and Newspapers. All of these ads targeted the average people and started making them call into consumeristic lifestyles. The se consumeristic lifestyles also included suburbanization. According to Boucher, â€Å"between 1944 and 1954, nine million people moved to the new suburbs.† (Boucher 11) Boucher goes on to say that living in the suburbs was traditionally reserved as a privilege of the rich, but now it was available for the common family. (Boucher 11) Everything was advertised, people were buying and buying. Such is the historical context of when Salinger wrote the short story. Salinger describes this materialistic society in the short story, embodied in the form of Muriel and her friends. Muriel, when her mother is talking, is more focused with materialistic items such as â€Å"her little lacquer brush† or the fact that the psychiatrist’s wife was wearing an â€Å"awful dinner dress† or any materialistic thing. (Salinger 1, 6) Throughout the entire story, Muriel is just too busy with the parties and the people and conforming to that materialistic lifestyle, worrying about her social life more than anything else. Sybill’s mother also seems to be more worried about her social life than anything else. Such was society characterized. In fact, Muriel was too worried about her social lifeShow MoreRelatedThe Perfect American Lifestyleof The 1950S. What Is The1489 Words   |  6 Pagesthe feeling for the 1950s was more than just money. As according to Coontz â€Å"it’s more than just a financial issue. 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