Emotional Damage, Hidden Truths, and Accepting Responsibility in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye When one finds themselves in a reader’s position, they search for things in the novel that they can relate to. J. D. Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present and future, can relate to in several ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to his poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and complications with his emotions due to the traumatic loss of his brother. He quickly understands how his narrow view of the world will lead him into trouble when he finds himself alone. The reader accompanies Holden through his stressful experiences over a period of three days through which we learn of his pain-filled past and negative outlook on the future. Some of the barriers Holden came upon during the time period of the novel are themes of everyday life. In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger intends to grab his audience’s attention with the story of a young teen named Holden Caulfield who must face emotional damage, hidden truths, and accepting responsibility Holden’s inabilities to sustain a normal life, according to the standards of people in modern times, led to him contemplate his life and the emotional damage he suffered from. His parents were preoccupied with their lifestyle and keeping up with appearances to really teach him good values. Due to the complex childhood that he experienced Holden found himself unable to connect to anyone other than his brother Allie, who suddenly passes during his childhood. After Allie dies Holden goes through a period of psychological dysfunction where he loses sense of not only his life, but hi... ... middle of paper ... ... "Holden's irony in J. D. Salinger's the Catcher in the Rye." The Explicator 66.4 (2008): 203+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.1 Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print. 12 March 2014. Sandock, Mollie. "The Catcher in the Rye: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420007023&v =2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=b3f0341dcebdc63d26de6b40db210a30 Svogun, Margaret Dumais. "Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye.'(J. D. Salinger)(Critical Essay)." The Explicator 61.2 (2003): 110+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA99398780&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=21e26203d77b9530af065ba8dad12663
Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood. Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
Holden goes through life not wanting to grow up. For him growing up meant the death of his brother Allie, leaving his younger sister, Phoebe, and not being able to keep in touch with his friend Jane Gallagher. Holden is very critical of others and is written as a cynical and at tim...
n.d. Web 12 Nov 2013 Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1951.
- Salinger, J.D.. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1945.
Perhaps the greatest irony in The Catcher in the Rye is the painstaking consideration it must have taken Salinger to craft a narrative voice that embodies the antithesis of any form of ‘painstaking consideration.’ Truly, Holden Caulfield’s voice—at times infuriating, yet unmistakably authentic—is Salinger’s magnum opus. As a reader, one allows the effortless storytelling of Caulfield to unconsciously influence perception of characters, major events, and key decisions. Salinger uses passive language and specific word choices in Holden’s narration to help readers better understand the depth of Holden’s troubles.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
Sandock, Mollie. "The Catcher in the Rye." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
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.
The common adolescence struggle of self-identification is found in both J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield’s lives. Salinger was born in New York into a well-to-do family (Klingenberger 18). Growing up, he had a hard time in school and “found school uninspiring and struggled with grades. he attended a number of private prep schools before his father sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy just outside Philadelphia” (Klingenberger 18). His lackadaisical attitude towards life and academics heavily influenced his creation of characters with similar qualities. Salinger’s most famous character, Holden, struggles with the same challenges. Holden and Salinger both feel the need to give up because they are afraid of failure. “Do you ever get fed up… I mean, did you ever get scared that everything was going to be lousy unless you did something?” (Salinger 130). His motivation to amount to something bigger than himself is miniscule, which proves to be a problem for him as the book progresses. Salinger’s ability to take his experiences with teenage depression and relate it back to his novel The Catcher in the Rye is his own form of therapy, especially with his struggles overcoming P...
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
Catcher in the Rye is a complicated book about a young man going through, what appears to be a nervous break down. This is a book about the boy’s negative self-talk, horrible outlook on life, and a life itself that seems to keep swirling down the toilet. He keeps trying to fill his life with something, but the reality of it is he doesn’t exactly now what he needs. It’s complicated to understand at parts, because all he does is think of things in the worst possible conditions.
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his perspective. J.D. Salinger constructed Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who cannot accept to grow up. Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects Holden acquired through Salinger’s use of symbolism are: his stubborn, uncompromising mentality; his softer, more caring respectful side; Holden’s cowardly way of acting and thinking.
Pinsker, Sanford. The Catcher In The Rye: Innocence Under Pressure. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.
Assorted Professors. "Jane Gallagher Character Analysis." The Catcher in the Rye: Shmoop Literature Guide. N.p.: Shmoop University, 2010. 93-94. Print.