I found the Perfect day for Bananafish quite confusing, and I had to re-read it a few times before I sort of understood it. I didn’t think there was much of a connection between any of the characters in the Bananafish story and the Catcher in the Rye. I think the Muriel girl on the phone at the beginning could possibly represent Phoebe, for being there all along and caring for one that is a little insane; but she’s not afraid of this man which she loves. The little girl playing the piano could be Sally Hayes in my mind, a girl you like because of how she looks and acts but don’t really like for what she does. Holden could possibly be the pale man who shot himself; they were both a little insane, and they had similar dialogue, but they were insane for different reasons. The way I understood it, the male in the Bananafish story was a World War II survivor and had gone insane from the war; Holden was a youth out of control and didn’t have that kind of history. Finally, the mother on the phone at the beginning could symbolize Mr. Antolini, someone who cares for the main character and only wants to help. But altogether the Bananafish story was confusing and I didn’t really see much of a bright connection between its characters and those of the Catcher in the Rye.