Franny and Zooey

Zooey goes into the living room and wakes Franny. Franny tells her brother that she had a nightmare in which some girls from college were pushing her under the water in a swimming pool. She says that Professor Tupper was there too, which makes sense to her because he hates her. Zooey asks her why Professor Tupper hates her, and Franny explains that she sees that he is a phony, and he does not like that.

Franny leans down and starts reciting her prayer noiselessly. She stops when Zooey tells her that he feels himself becoming a judgmental, bitter person. Franny explains to Zooey how she ruined her weekend with Lane. Zooey says it is not her fault. Buddy and Seymour taught them so much when they were young that now they have impossibly high standards that no one can meet. Since they grew up on a radio show, Zooey explains that they still converse with people as if they are on a radio show. Franny explains that at school, she picked apart everything her professors, friends, and roommate said until she knew they were sick of her. After a while, Franny believed that college was worthless because it was another treasure that would mean nothing in the next life. Franny believes that knowledge can be just as destructive as money, or other treasures, because it distracts people. She tells Zooey that in all the time that she has been at college, hardly anyone has ever talked about wisdom, only knowledge.

Zooey asks Franny why she says the Jesus Prayer from The Way of a Pilgrim. To Zooey, there is no difference between money, knowledge, or spiritual achievement: All these forms of treasure lead back to ego. Franny gets angry at him, saying that she knows that what she is doing is just as phony as everything else, and that is why she is not getting out of bed. Franny goes silent, and Zooey asks her again if she needs to talk to Buddy. Franny says that she wants to talk to Seymour. Zooey silently stares out the window at a little girl playing with her dog. Zooey tells Franny that there are good things in the world, even if they just cannot see them.

Zooey tells her that he used to want to say the prayer because he thought it would help him. Zooey agrees with Franny that academia can be toxic, but he does not like how she talks about higher education as if she is above it. He thinks that her tirade against academia is misdirected because she is attacking people rather than systems. Zooey also thinks that her new pious nature is hypocritical because she used to say that she did not like God. Franny says that she was 11 years old when she said that, but Zooey ignores her. Zooey says that her inability to have compassion for people like Professor Tupper is exactly why she should not be taking religion seriously. Zooey continues berating Franny that her ego is getting in the way of her spirituality and that only God can really see people’s egos, even as Franny begs him to stop talking. Zooey says that Franny should say the Jesus Prayer to Jesus, and not to Seymour or any other person. Franny collapses on the couch sobbing, but Zooey keeps talking about Jesus and how he was the smartest person in the New Testament. Zooey suddenly stops speaking because he realizes that Franny lies prostrate on the couch, moaning. Zooey feels afraid that he has upset her too much and stands over her, apologizing. This only makes her cry harder, so he leaves her alone.

Zooey goes into Seymour and Buddy’s old room, realizing that he has not been inside since Seymour died. He examines the back of the door, which Seymour and Buddy covered with quotes from philosophers, religious texts, and novelists. Zooey sits at Seymour’s desk and reads his brother’s writing. Zooey stops reading and picks up Seymour’s old phone. He dials a local number and waits for the other end to answer.

In the living room, Bessie tells Franny that Buddy is on the phone and wants to speak to her. Franny takes the call in her parents’ room for privacy. Franny answers the phone and Buddy asks her to tell him what she is going through. Franny tells Buddy that she does not want to talk too much because Zooey has been harassing her all morning. Buddy asks how Zooey is doing, and she explains that Zooey attacked her for liking the Jesus Prayer, while simultaneously talking about Jesus like he was the only person in the world who understood him. Franny finds Zooey’s behavior extremely hypocritical and phony. Franny tells Buddy that Zooey’s bitterness about religion and Seymour makes him impossible to talk to. Franny tells Buddy that the night before, Zooey told her he drank ginger ale with Jesus in the kitchen when he was eight years old. Franny says that this story made her so mad because Zooey keeps pretending that she is losing her mind, while he tells her stories that he would be angry with her for believing in. Buddy says a phrase that does not sound like him, and Franny suddenly realizes that she is speaking to Zooey. She tells him to stop pretending to be Buddy. Zooey goes quiet, and Franny tells him to say what he wants to say to her. Zooey tells Franny that he thinks that she should go on saying the Jesus Prayer. He tells her that he does not have any authority to tell her what to do with her life.

Franny asks where Zooey is calling from, but he does not tell her. Instead, he tells her that he knows she quit the theater, but he thinks that she should pursue her passions and act if she wants to act. He tells her that the only thing religion teaches people is detachment, but he wants her to pursue her dreams. Zooey tells Franny about something Seymour told him once when they were on the radio show. He says that Seymour told him to shine his shoes, which Zooey thought was ridiculous because no one was going to see his shoes, but Seymour told him to shine them anyway for “the Fat Lady” (169). Zooey did not understand what Seymour meant and he never explained who the Fat Lady was, but Zooey shined his shoes anyway. Franny tells Zooey that Seymour told her the same thing one time and that she used to picture the Fat Lady too. Zooey tells Franny that to an actor, everyone in the world is Seymour’s Fat Lady, even Professor Tupper. Zooey explains to Franny that the Fat Lady is Jesus himself. Franny listens happily in silence, until Zooey suddenly says that he cannot talk anymore and hangs up. Franny listens to the dial tone for a few minutes. After a while, Franny hangs up the phone. She gets into her parents’ bed and stares at the ceiling smiling, before falling into a dreamless sleep.