CATCHER IN THE RYE The book, Catcher in the Rye, has been steeped in controversy since it was banned in America after its first publication. John Lennon’s assassin Mark Chapman, asked the former Beatle to sign a copy of the book earlier in the morning of the day he murdered Lennon. Police found the book in his possession upon apprehending the psychologically disturbed Chapman. However, the book itself contains nothing that might have lead Chapman to act as he did. It could have been just any book that he was reading the day he decided to kill John Lennon and as a result, it was the Catcher in the Rye, a book describing a nervous breakdown, that caused the media to speculate widely about the possible connection. This gave the book even more recognition. The character Holden Caulfield ponders the thoughts of death, accuses ordinary people of being phonies, and expresses his love for his sister through out the novel. So what is the book Catcher in the Rye really about? Superficially the story of a young man getting expelled from another school, the Catcher in the Rye is, in fact, a perceptive study of one individual’s understanding of his human condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950’s, New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and goes to New York to take a vacation before returning to his parents’ inevitable irritation. Told as a monologue, the book describe Holden’s thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakdown. This was evident by his bouts of unexplained depression, impetuous spending and generally odd, erratic behavior, prior to his eventual nervous collapse. Some critics have argued that Holden’s character is erratic and unreliable, as he has many of the middle-class values that he claims to reject. Later on critics began to have praised the twisted humor of the main character. These critics have commented that the structure of the novel helps you understand Holden’s unstable state of mind. Alastair best remarked: "There is a hard, almost classical structure underneath Holden’s rambling narrativ. The style, too, appears effortless; yet one wonders how much labor went into those artfully rough-hewn sentences" (qtd. in Davis 318) A large field of critics took a positive view of the novel.
As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.
One of the best known novels in English-speaking countries, J.D Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye deals with Holden Caulfield’s past trauma which is the triggering factor in his depression, anxiety and alienation. Holden tells an unnamed person what has happened in the three days prior to his mental breakdown. Through Holden’s relatable characteristics and Salinger’s narrative treatment, the book continues to engage audiences across generations.
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage rebel who is exploring the world on his own. The author, Salinger, uses many tools to deepen the impression on the reader such as linking the title to the story in an intricate way or creating a complex name for the protagonist. The symbols used in The Catcher in the Rye are there for a just reason, an example being how the author used the title, which is also a poem, as a symbol. Salinger uses the geographical locations, such as the Museum of Natural History, as symbols as well.
Thesis statement: The relationship Holden and Blanche have between family and people in society leads them to an inner turmoil, which eventually results in their psychological breakdowns.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D.Salinger, is a novel written to convey the emotions of transitioning from a child to an adult. The story takes place primarily in New York City, New York, following teenage boy Holden Caulfield during a short snippet of his life. The reader travels through this time as Caulfield is kicked out of secondary school and journeys to New York shortly after. The novel’s purpose is to detail the painful experience of being a teenager through the eyes of a boy who does not understand adults and experiences withdrawal from society due to his discontent with it. This experience relates to many which is why the book is still to this day so popular and why it is a valuable piece of literature.
In a novel, the theme is the insight of real life. J.D. Salinger’s initiation novel, The Catcher In The Rye, describes the adventures of 16-year old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist and first person narrator, who refuses to grow up and enter manhood. The most important theme developed by Salinger is Holden’s problem of dealing with change; he has trouble dealing with death, he refuses to accept children’s loss of innocence as a necessary step in the growing-up process, and has difficulties with growing up.
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
For the entirety of the book, Holden accuses others of phoniness, yet he completely disregards his own superficiality. Concerning his refusal to take responsibility for his education, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s history teacher, explains to Holden that “life is a game one plays according to the rules” (11). After quickly agreeing with supposed sincerity, Holden silently contradicts everything Mr. Spencer has just stated. He mentally retorts that if one lives in a world of privileged “hot-shots,” life is certainly a game. “On the other side,” however, “where there aren’t any hot-shots,” then nothing is “a game about it” (11). Additionally, Holden lies to the mother of arguably the most hated and obnoxious student at Pencey. Solely out of a need to avoid confrontation and keep others content, Holden insists that “he’s one of the most popular boys at Pencey” and is simply too modest to run for class elections (63). Holden grows so engrossed in the undesirable characteristics of others that he overlooks the stream of perpetual, wild lies in which he is constantly stuck. Frequently, Holden finds himself lying about his age in order to appeal to “dopey girls” with whom “it is practically impossible” to engage in “a little intelligent conversation” (80, 82). Not only does Holden lack self-awareness regarding his fakeness, but he refuses to accept his inevitable entrance into the adult world. With each passing, influential experience, Holden clings more to the past and hopes to prevent others from landing in the same predicament that he now faces: the loss of his innocence. He dreads change, as becomes evident in the Natural History museum when he discusses the most appealing aspect of the museum: the fact that “everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move” (135). Because Holden is so dependant on
Holden attacks various weaknesses in the 50's society. He criticizes nearly everything that he observes, and refuses to pull punches. Often Holden uses his brilliant talent of observation to discover the true motives behind the people he calls "phony." Through his observations the reader can interpret Salinger's view of the 1950's culture. Holden's perceptions of paranoia, conformity, and the consumer culture convey Salinger's views.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Cawfield a New York City teenager in the 1950's as a manic-depressive. Holden's depression starts with the death of his brother, Allie . Holden is expelled from numerous schools due to his poor academics which are brought on by his depression. Manic depression, compulsive lying, and immaturity throughout the novel characterize Holden.
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a boy named Holden Caufield, whose continual struggle throughout the novel of when to act like an adult or a child provides many situations in which his paradoxical personality, thoughts on innocence, and three major themes come out which in turn help provide many lenses for those two ideas. The three themes of loss of innocence, search for identity, and pursuit of happiness are the three main means in which
In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a rather negative teenager who has been kicked out of yet another boarding school. Set in the late 1940s, he decides to leave his school, Pencey Prep, early and takes a trip to New York City. As Holden adventures through New York City, he seems to have a fixation on his brother, Allie’s, death. Allie dies a few years prior to the novel, and this tragedy has seemed to leave a long-lasting, negative impact on Holden. Because he has seen the harsh realities of adulthood, too early, Holden has tried not only to not grow up himself, but to also prevent others from having to face the sadness that comes with maturity.
What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one had anything better to offer. It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examinations? Why won't he talk to us?"
As defined in The American Heritage Dictionary, symbolism is defined as the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings of significance to objects. The book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger was the only novel he has written. The novel The Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caulfield who’s trying to find himself and what he’s supposed to do with his life. Through his journey he gets kicked out of many schools, interacts with unusual characters, and has many different events that are unusual. Throughout the novel, he will be told he needs some kind of help and at the end he too will realize it himself. Why is Holden’s red hunting hat significant because, his hat is red like Allies hair, he’s hunting for truth, and he wears it like a catcher.