Glass family
Encyclopedia
The Glass family is a group of fictional characters that have been featured in a number of J. D. Salinger
's short stories
. All but one of the Glass family stories were first published in The New Yorker
; several of them have been collected and published in the compilations Nine Stories
, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction
and Franny and Zooey
.
The children are all precocious, and have all appeared on a fictional radio quiz show called It's a Wise Child, which has, according to the stories, sent all seven Glass children through college. From 1927 to 1943, at least one of the children appeared on the show, beginning with Seymour and Buddy. It is mentioned in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters that each child appeared on the show under a pseudonym as the Black children. Seymour was known as Billy Black, and Walt was Georgie Black.
The Glass family lives in New York City
; all the children spent most of their childhood in an apartment on the Upper East Side
.
J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
's short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. All but one of the Glass family stories were first published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
; several of them have been collected and published in the compilations Nine Stories
Nine Stories (Salinger)
Nine Stories is a collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger released in May 1953. It includes two of his most famous short stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor". Nine Stories (1953) is a collection of short stories by American...
, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction is a single volume featuring two novellas by J. D. Salinger, which were previously published in The New Yorker: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction . Little, Brown republished them in this anthology in...
and Franny and Zooey
Franny and Zooey
Franny and Zooey is a book by American author J.D. Salinger which comprises his short story, "Franny", and novella, Zooey. The two works were published together as a book in 1961; the two stories originally appeared in The New Yorker in 1955 and 1957, respectively...
.
Members
The Glass family, from eldest to youngest:- Les and Bessie Glass (née Gallagher): Retired vaudevilleVaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performers. Les is Jewish, and is in the entertainment business. He is not mentioned often in the stories, but is criticized by Seymour in "Hapworth 16, 1924Hapworth 16, 1924"Hapworth 16, 1924" is the "youngest" of J. D. Salinger's Glass family stories, in the sense that the narrated events happen chronologically before those in the rest of the great "Glass series". It appeared in the June 19, 1965 edition of The New Yorker, and has never been reprinted...
." Bessie, the matriarch, is Irish, and is characterized as consistently worried about the fact her children are talented yet largely unable to assimilate into society. They are the parents of the seven children: - Seymour Glass (February 1917 - March 18, 1948): The eldest, Seymour is featured in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction and Franny and Zooey. He is the author of the letter that comprises "Hapworth 16, 1924" and is the main character in "A Perfect Day for BananafishA Perfect Day for Bananafish"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. It was anthologized in 1949's 55 Short Stories from the New Yorker as well as in Salinger's 1953 collection, Nine Stories...
." Seymour was a spiritual savant and brilliant intellectual, and became a professor at Columbia at 20. Along with his siblings he was a regular star on the radio program It's a Wise Child. He fought in the European Theatre of World War II, and was deeply scarred by the experience. In 1941 he attempts suicide by slitting his wrists, but fails, as described in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters. He elopes with Muriel Fedder on June 4, 1942. In "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," he commits suicide while the couple are on a second honeymoon in Florida. Muriel is asleep on the bed beside him at the time. - Webb Gallagher "Buddy" Glass (born 1919): The protagonist in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, and the narrator of Franny and Zooey. It is revealed in the latter that he wrote at least two stories collected in Nine Stories: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "TeddyTeddy (story)"Teddy" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1953 issue of The New Yorker and reprinted in the 1953 collection, Nine Stories. The main character, Teddy McArdle, is a ten-year-old child genius, who is returning home from England with his father, mother, and...
." It is also suggested in Seymour that he wrote The Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
. Buddy is often considered to be Salinger's alter ego. He lives in upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
and teaches English at a rural women's college. He also volunteers his time to instruct some of the faculty of his college in MahayanaMahayanaMahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Buddy and Seymour were only two years apart, spent most of their youths living together, and were very close before Seymour's suicide in 1948. Buddy narrates most of the Glass stories. - Beatrice "Boo Boo" Glass Tannenbaum (born 1920): Married, mother of three children, appears centrally in "Down at the DinghyDown at the Dinghy"Down at the Dinghy" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in Harper's in April 1949, and included in the compilation, Nine Stories. It is arguably the least dramatic story in the Glass family saga...
," is mentioned in "Hapworth 16, 1924," and is often referenced in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters as the "seafaring" sibling currently occupying the New York apartment where much of the story's action takes place. She "modestly prefers to be referred to as a Tuckahoe homemaker." - Walter "Walt" Glass (1921 - 1945): The twin brother of Waker Glass. He was an American soldier who died in Occupied JapanOccupied JapanAt the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
in late Fall of 1945, at the age of 22, when a stove he was packaging exploded, an event that Buddy Glass refuses to address. Walt is described by his girlfriend in "Uncle Wiggily in ConnecticutUncle Wiggily in Connecticut"Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, which appears in his collection Nine Stories. It was originally published in the March 20, 1948 issue of The New Yorker....
." He was also described in "Franny and Zooey" as being the only truly "lighthearted" son in the family. - Waker Glass (born 1921): The twin brother, born twelve minutes after Walter. A Roman Catholic monk of the CarthusianCarthusianThe Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
order. Little is known about Waker, because, though he is mentioned in many of the stories, none have been written specifically about him. - Zachary Martin "Zooey" Glass (born 1929): Title character of Zooey, in which he is 25 years old. He is an actor, and (according to Buddy) the most attractive of all the children. Buddy also says that of the family members, Zooey and himself were "too clever" for their own good. Boo Boo describes Zooey as "the blue-eyed Jewish-Irish Mohican scout who died in your arms at the roulette table at Monte Carlo." He is portrayed as being rather arrogant and particularly insensitive to his mother, Bessie, frequently swearing at her and calling her "fatty." He is misanthropic, which he attributes to Seymour and Buddy's imposition of their college-age infatuation with Eastern mysticism on him and Franny as children.
- Frances "Franny" Glass (born 1934): The title character of Franny, in which she is a 20 year old college student and actress. In Franny and Zooey, she is depicted reading The Way of a PilgrimThe Way of a PilgrimThe Way of a Pilgrim is the English title of a 19th century Russian work, recounting the narrator's journey as a mendicant pilgrim across Russia while practicing the Jesus Prayer. It is unknown if the book is literally an account of a single pilgrim, or if it uses a fictional pilgrim's journey as a...
, an anonymous Orthodox Christian classic, which contributes to her spiritual and emotional breakdown.
The children are all precocious, and have all appeared on a fictional radio quiz show called It's a Wise Child, which has, according to the stories, sent all seven Glass children through college. From 1927 to 1943, at least one of the children appeared on the show, beginning with Seymour and Buddy. It is mentioned in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters that each child appeared on the show under a pseudonym as the Black children. Seymour was known as Billy Black, and Walt was Georgie Black.
The Glass family lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; all the children spent most of their childhood in an apartment on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
.