JD Salinger, also known as Jerome David Salinger, is an American novelist and short story writer. Critics and readers alike recognize Salinger as one of the most popular and influential writers. His only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, drew such great attention during the fifties and sixties that those years have been called the age of Holden Caulfield (Contemporary Literary Critiscm, Vol. 12). Salinger is a master of contemporary dialect and idiomatic expression. He created in Holden Caulfield a character who became the prototype of alienated adolescence for an entire generation of Americans. The Catcher in the Rye has been banned even recently from a few libraries, schools, and bookstores for the starkness of its language and attitudes and the realism of some of its settings.
Although Salinger has fallen out of critical favor because of his sentimentality, it is generally agreed that Catcher has yet to be surpassed in its portrayal of the pains and pleasures of a youth searching for love and direction. In all his work Salinger draws upon the experience of his own life. For instance, his parents shared the same backgrounds as do those of his
fictive Glass family. An undistinguished student, Salinger flunked out of private high school. His family sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy, the model the Catcher’s Pencey Prep (Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 3).
The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, is one of these American heroes, but with a significant difference. He seems to be engaged in both sorts of quests at once; he needs to go home and he needs to leave it. Unlike the other American knight errants, Holden seeks Virtue second to love. He wants to be good. When the little children are playing in the rye-field on the clifftop, Holden wants to be the one who catches them before they fall off the cliff. Like these American heroes, Holden is a wanderer, for in order to be good he has to be more of a bad boy than the puritanical Huck could have imagined. Holden has had enough of both Hannibal, Missouri, and the Mississippi; and his tragedy is that when he starts back up the river, he has no place to go- save, of course, a California psychiatrist’s couch (Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 12).
Holden’s quest takes him outside socie...
... middle of paper ...
...oment always becoming a segment of the past. Holden views his life as being in a state of continual change. Since a developed intellect is needed to realize immutable conceptions, and since Holden’s “thinking” is limited to his sense of the mutability of life, Holden remains trapped within time, unable to recognize anything permanent in human existence (Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 5).
One might conclude by stressing that Holden is talking, not to an analyst, but to you, the reader. Holden is talking directly to anyone who might be as “troubled morally and spiritually” as Holden was about the nature of this world in which everyone exists. He offers his narration of The
Catcher in the Rye as a record of his troubles for anyone who might wish to learn from his experiences. As Mr. Antolini says, “It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.” (Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 12)
Work cited
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 3
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 8
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 12
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 5
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of a young boy, Holden Caulfield, from adolescence to adulthood. There are a number of symbols that Salinger uses to help to portray the various stages that Holden goes through as he matures into adulthood. The snowball incident, his sense of fulfillment when at the museum, and his run in with a pimp, are all representations of how Holden is deeply obsessed with innocence thoughts and how reluctant he is to give them up.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a popular novel that was originally published in the 1950’s. In the book, Salinger explores various themes through the main character Holden and his interactions with others. Some of these themes include, alienation, loss and betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed throughout the novel by several people, including his roommate, teacher, and sister.
J.D Salinger gives his personal vision of the world successfully through his persona Holden Caulfield in the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Caulfield struggles with the background of New York to portray Salinger’s theme – you must live the world as it is, not as you would like it to be. There by exposing Salinger’s vision on the world.
Due to J.D Salinger’s personal and relatable narrative treatment, Catcher in the Rye continues to engage audiences, even 64 years after it was first published. The way the book deals with alienation and disillusionment in regards to Holden’s past trauma - through the closeness of first person narration and conversational writing among other techniques - creates a personal connection to Holden’s character and helps adolescents relate his troubles to their own.
American Literature is widely known for possessing themes of disillusionment. Faulkner, Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway dominate this category of literature. However, the most influential piece of American Literature is arguably J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. What makes this piece of art stand so far out from any other work of literature is the attributes that make this novel so relatable. The source of this raw, real emotion that completely captivates the reader is Salinger himself. The Catcher in the Rye ‘s main character Holden Caulfield is undeniably Salinger. This work of fiction nearly resembles an autobiography. J.D. Salinger uses his novel to express his disillusionment through motifs, pathos, and symbols.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl.
Despite Holden's resistance to change, he starts to change. "Catcher in the Rye," reminds us that changing is not easy to process mentally. Going through the true process of change, it requires us to let go of the past and move on which is hard. The novel represents the hardship of changing. It reminds us how great the value of finding something special and precious is as well as a valid reason although it requires us to let go and move on with our lives. All it requires is to simply let
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on himself.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
In 1950 J.D. Salenger captures one of society’s tragedies, the breakdown of a teenager, when he wrote The Catcher In The Rye. Holden Caulfield, a fickle “man” is not even a man at all. His unnecessary urge to lie to avoid confrontation defeats manhood. Holden has not matured and is unable to deal with the responsibility of living on his owe. He childishly uses a hunter’s hat to disguise him self from others. The truth of his life is sad and soon leads to his being institutionalized. He tries to escape the truth with his criticisms. Knowing he will never meet his parents’ expectations, his only true friend is his eight-year-old sister Phoebe, to whom Holden tells that he really wants to be ‘the catcher in the rye”. Holden admits his only truth and shows that Phoebe is his only friend. Another form of escape for Holden is his acting, which he uses to excuse the past. Holden has tried to lie, hide, and blame his way through life; when he finds that it is not the answer he collapses.
The Catcher in the Rye is a historical fiction novel by J.D Salinger. The book starts with Holden Caulfield, the main character, explaining a little about himself and goes on to tell his story of what happened after he left Pencey. Everyone strives to set themselves to a place in life where they feel safe, comfortable, and secure, that is the American dream. The journey to achieve this dream is known as the American experience. In the novel, Holden tries to act and look older. He reflects on his shortcomings and the setbacks in life, and leaves to collect himself, all reflecting elements of the American experience.
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a remarkable book that gives readers a unique and perhaps gloomy perspective of the 1950's through Holden Caulfield, a cynical and peculiar teenager. Through The Catcher in the Rye Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society.
Holden Caulfield can be analyzed through his thoughts, actions and circumstances which surround his everyday life. Holden acts like a careless teenager. Holden has been to several prep-schools, all of which he got kicked out of for failing classes. After being kicked out of the latest, Pency Prep, he went off to New York on his own. Holden seems to have a motivation problem which apparently affects his reasoning. The basis of his reasoning comes from his thoughts. Holden thinks the world is full of a bunch of phonies. All his toughs about people he meets are negative. The only good thoughts he has are about his sister Phoebe and his dead brother Alley. Holden, perhaps, wishes that everyone, including himself, should be like his brother and sister. That is to be intelligent, real and loving. Holden’s problem is with his heart. It was broken when his brother died. Now Holden goes around the world as his fake self, wearing his mask. Holden is looking for love, peace and understanding. He is scared to love because he is afraid he might lose it like he did with his brother. That is the reason for Holden's love of the museum, he feels safe because it never changes it always stays the same. Holden is troubled with the pain of death, it effects every aspect of his life causing him to not care about the future, himself or anyone, except Phoebe and Alley.
J.D. Salinger was one of the most influential writers in American Literature. Even though he had not published many works of literature before his death, His works such as “The Catcher In The Rye”and “Franny And Zooey” had shaped the 20th century of literature. His life would forever be influenced by his upbringings being brought up in New York to later his traumatizing experiences faced on the battlefield of World War 2, which he had served in his adult years. Even though his books had experienced a lot of success, people still found his books being not only hard to read, but hard to relate to and stand all together. His writing style is a bit unorthodox, his word choice is a bit skewed, but J.D. Was aiming for the
Throughout the novel Holden evolves to have the feeling of being needed by those around him. He comes to a sense of conclusion that he must help those around him, he must be the ‘catcher in the rye.’