Discuss the view that in - Behind the Scenes at the Museum - and
- Catcher in the Rye - Holden and Ruby can be regarded as unreliable
narrators.
In both “Behind the Scenes at the Museum” and “Catcher in the Rye”
there are obvious signs that Holden and Ruby are troubled and
unreliable characters. The informal conversational tone that Holden
uses is meant to be spontaneous and unrehearsed; so instead of getting
a focused autobiography, we get a scanty account of a few days that
often trail into other stories that are what we use to draw a picture
of Holden. Holden states his intentions from the beginning. He has no
intentions of telling his ‘whole goddam autobiography or anything’ and
states clearly that he doesn’t want to write ‘all that David
Copperfield kind of crap’. This also suggests that Holden has no
concern with what has happened previously, which we later see is not
the case. “Catcher in the Rye” is only spread over a few days unlike
“Behind the Scenes at the Museum” which can be seen as more of a
bildungsroman and appears to be a child’s viewpoint in an adults
voice. This is characterised by the use of vocabulary and descriptions
and also marked by the use of parenthesis. Parenthesis often follows
descriptions such as after the description of the guest bed Ruby adds
in brackets ‘much nicer than the camp bed’ which emphasizes the idea
that it is not just a child speaking. This technique draws the
reader’s attention to the artificiality of this fictional work. This
is unlike “Catcher in the Rye” that in some ways could be regarded as
non-fictional, as Salinger does not emphasize the fact that it is
fiction. However, it could be argued that the style of “Catcher in the
Rye” and the context make it obviously fiction, for example, the
detailed regurgitated conversations which would be not a
characteristic of non-fictional work. However, considering Holden’s
situation and the circumstances it is possible to see him as an
unreliable narrator.
In the first paragraph in “Catcher in the Rye” we know that something
has happened to Holden and he has been hospitalised for quite some
time, suggesting some form of psychological disturbance. However,
although we know that Holden is reflecting on events that lead to his
psychological breakdown, we do not feel that when he is telling the
story it is though the eyes of someone who we cannot trust and whose
judgement may be impaired. Likewise with Ruby, who as an omniscient
character seems most reliable until we are informed of Ruby’s
repression of the death of her twin sister Pearl and Ruby too has
Salinger went through many of the experiences Holden went though. Salinger much like Holden had a sister that he loved very much, in the novel Phoebe is the only person that Holden speaks highly of; both men also spent time in a mental institution; Holden is telling the story from inside a institution; they were both kicked out of prep school and most importantly they were both a recluse from society. This is why Salinger uses Holden as his persona all though out the book. The ‘catcher in they Rye’ is almost like an autobiography for Salinger. He is using Holden as his persona to let us, the reader, dive into his thought pattern and find out some of the thoughts that he kept locked up in there.
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.
The form of diction used in The Catcher in the Rye is a topic on which many people are strongly opinionated. Because the narrator speaks solely in the vernacular, the novel is ripe with vulgar language. Most of this language is used to characterize Holden, the protagonist and narrator, as a typical American teenager living in the late 1940s or early 1950s, but some of it is utilized to convey Salinger’s theme of innocence versus corruption. When Holden is walking through his sister Phoebe’s school, he sees a scrawl on the wall saying “Fuck you.” He imagines the writing was etched by “some perverty bum that’d sneaked in the school late at night to take a leak or something” (260-61). Again in the museum, Holden encounters another such sign. Both the school and the museum are places he identifies with his childhood, but they have been perverted by the corruption of the world. He is concerned for the children who will inevitably see these signs and be told what they mean by “some dirty kid…all cockeyed, naturally” (260), spoiling the children’s innocence. This is just one more step towards adulthood and corruption. He is disgusted by the people in the world, saying “You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘Fuck yo...
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
One way for readers to measure their level of comprehension in this story, is to explore the meaning of the title, it's effect on the book's theme and how it provides a deep look into Holden's character. Being an attention demanding tool, the title also can provide a mystery to which the reader can understand by pulling together the clues, hidden in the text. To an experienced reader, who may be familiar with the book, imagery of a catcher in the rye is apparent throughout the story. However, for a new reader the journey begins past the middle of the book.
Our daily lives emotionally affect us as individual persons in society. What happens in our daily life, changes our emotional life and changes our perspective towards life. Society has an impact on individual persons. According to The Catcher in The Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower; what happens to Holden and Charlie at school, at home and with their friend relationships affect them negatively and complicates their perspective towards life. Both Holden and Charlie are affected negatively by the society. Their emotional life is shaped by their social lives as like as ours.
The Catcher in the Rye and The Red Badge of Courage detail the gradual maturation of two immature boys into self-reliant young men. The steady speed at which Salingerís and Craneís language streams enables the reader to see the independent events that lead up to the ultimate rite of passage for both Henry and Holden. Although the pinnacle of maturity Holden reached concerned his pessimistic view of the world and Henryís was a unifying moment of bravery, both boys experienced an epiphany over the course of their respective tales. Holden came to a realization in the timeless peace of an Egyptian tomb that forced him to reevaluate his immature and selfish views. His new attitude was first displayed while he watched Phoebe snatch at the gold rings of the Central Park carousel. Henry found his manhood during the fierce chaos of battle. These final rites of passage differ in particulars, but their underlying themes possess many similarities.
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.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
Holden is drawn to the consistency of the Natural History Museum because of the feeling of stability and security that it provides for him. For most of his life he has lacked a definite place where he felt like he belonged. In his life Holden has gone to 4 different schools and has lost his little brother to cancer which had fostered feelings of distrust and had made him feel like there is nothing in his life to rely on. A majority of the place and people Holden has encountered as well as the experiences he has had have only depressed him. So far, everything Holden has ever describe has made him angry or sad, but after an encounter with a little girl reminds him of the Natural History Museum, Holden reminisces about the elementary school
The scene of Catcher in the Rye that stands out the most to me was when Holden returns to the museum. This scene stands out because it shows the reader a little insight on Holden’s character as a person. Change is something the troubles Holden, the main change that Holden struggles the most with is maturing into the adult world. This is why he finds comfort in a museum exhibit he has been to since he was a young child. Holden describes “the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (Salinger 135). This shows why Holden enjoyed the museum so much, the world outside might still be spinning and changing but in the museum everything stayed the same, “You could go there a hundred thousand times. Nobody’d
Many readers are able to relate to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye making it a classic. The characters display a variety of personalities making it very easy for readers to understand and follow the different dilemmas throughout the novel. However the greatest dilemma is Holden’s downfall, not only his alienation from society but himself. He believed throughout the whole novel that he had a grasp on his life all while it continued to slip away. Holden’s estrangement following Allie’s death caused him to become dormant, abrasive to others and cynical.
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.
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.
While societal attitudes attitudes may change over time, the challenges associated with the transition from childhood to adulthood remain constant. The ideas of individuality, alienation and loss of innocence fortify the theme of coming of age across the texts The Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The Catcher in the Rye, a bildungsroman novel written by J.D. Salinger in 1951, focuses on teenager Holden Caulfield’s transition from childhood to adulthood in 1950’s America, whereas the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower directed by Stephen Chbosky in 2012 follows teenager Charlie experiencing a similar transition in 1990’s America. Despite their varying contexts, these ideas are presented in both texts through the use the