Catcher In The Rye Literary Analysis

The Catcher in The Rye captures us with ideas that weaves the story and gives us insights into the nature of ourselves and our worlds. J.D. Sallinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in The Rye uses literary realism and coming-of-age fiction as he tells a story about an unstable 16-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who is trying to find a way to be true to himself while growing up in an adult world full of phonies. He ends up tired and emotionally ill, in a psychologist’s office. The events are told after his recovery. When Holden tries to become a mature adult, he faces many scenarios including alienation as a form of self-protection and the painfulness of growing up.

Throughout the novel, Holden purposely isolates himself from everyone and the world

Holden is no exception. He believes he is an adult, but he also wishes to become a child. An example of this is when Phoebe falls asleep, “She was laying asleep with her face sort of on the pillow. Take adults, they look lousy when they’re asleep, but kids don’t. Kids look all right. They can even spit all over the pillow and they still look alright.” Holden finds everything better in the innocence of a child, he wants to be like a child, uncorrupted by the world. Holden hates adulthood, but still pretends to be older. When Holden was in the Lavender Room, he orders a drink but the waiter asks for ID. One of the main reasons Holden is affected is because of his brother’s death. Holden hesitates into the adult world because the childhood memories of Allie in them keep him happy. Holden struggles adulthood and is a scared adolescent, he is scared because he is guilty of the sins he criticizes in others and because he can’t understand and accept the world around him. At the end of the novel Holden appears to have more acceptance of the idea of growing up. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel he comprehends that sometimes you ‘have to let them fall’ (the children on the carousel). Holden now understands that growing up is unavoidable and fighting it is useless. Salinger structured Catcher in the Rye specifically to create an overall reflective