42 pages 1 hour read

J. D. Salinger

Franny and Zooey

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1961

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Part 2, Pages 102-170Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “Zooey”

Part 2, Pages 102-170 Summary

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.