Use of Literary Elements
There are many important elements to The Catcher in the Rye but there are two that stand out from the rest by a great margin. These elements of the novel are the message that the book gives to reader as well as the style of writing that J.D. Salinger uses while writing the book. The messages can be seen clearly and are very important to the book, but they are not an original theme for a book. What does set the ideas in this book apart from other books with the same theme is the writing style that Salinger uses in the book; this writing style is called stream of consciousness writing.
Stream of consciousness writing is a type of writing that is not typically used in books because of its well defined limits. These limits are that when using stream of consciousness narration, the story line is required to revolve around one and only one main character if the writing is to be effective. With S. of C. writing it is also required that the author develop the main character extremely well into a very believable person both emotionally and physically through thoughts and actions. To write an effective book in this writing style an author must be exceptionally talented, and thankfully Mr. Salinger is just that. The S. of C. writing style is used effectively with the character of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye because the story line Mr. Salinger developed follows Holden specifically as well as the fact that the subject matter of the book is one of an personal nature.
The ideas in the book are presented as thoughts of Holden through out the story. These topics include the fakeness of the world, as well as the rebellion against the world that many teenagers have. Holden does not like the phonies in the world and constantly voices his opinion about it as well. The rebellion against the world in not a conscious thing that Holden does but it is apparent in the story line of the book. An example of this rebellion is the constant use of profanity in the book. Salinger makes good use of the constant profanity to show this rebellion but because of HoldenÕs character it is not out of context. Because Holden is upper-middle class and educated he used profanity to exemplify points that he is trying to make, not because he is swearing out of anger.
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.
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.
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.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
Some people may question why Salinger has Holden Caulfiend cursing so much. Some may see Caulfield’s persistent offensive language as unnecessary and unbecoming for a young person of Holden’s age. As an example, on page 129 when Caulfield is comparing his and Sally’s skating skills to the rest of the people at the ice-skating rink in Radio City. He says “...we were the worst skaters on the whole goddam rink.” He further accounts about Sally’s ankles bending under her weight in the ice skates saying, “They not only looked stupid as hell, but they probably hurt like hell, too.” These three cases of offensive language were all within the same paragraph. Which would obviously lead some parents to question the necessity of this overflow of profanity. If I were to make an assertion as to why Salinger gave Caulfield the mouth of a sailor it would be because that most young adults do actually use profanity this much. Granted, it does not add much, in terms of meaning, to the sentence, nor does it make the sentence more interesting aside from getting a chuckle from the reader every so often. In that respect, I can see both why Salinger made his character like this, but I can also understand why people would be offended by Holden’s language.
The theme of The Catcher in the Rye is simple. J. D. Salinger uses this novel to draw a clear distinction between the purity of childhood and the wickedness attained when one reaches adulthood. Salinger uses multiple literary devices including diction, symbolism, tone, and even the title of the novel to drive home his ideas about the innocence of children and the corruption of the world.
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.
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.
To begin, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is unique. The novel is written from the perspective of a teenager who lives in New York in the 1950's. From the context in the beginning and the end of the book, "I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy" (page 1), "I could probably tell you what I did after I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school I'm supposed to go to next fall, after I get out of here, but I don't feel like it" (page 213), we can infer that Holden Caulfield, the aforementioned teenager, is in a mental hospital. However, he tells the story through flashback of a three-day period sometime before Christmas the year before. This is unusual because most novels cover much more time than three days. This is one reason why this novel is so unique. Although the novel is spread over only three days, we learn so much about the protagonist, and many other characters, because all Holden's thoughts and feelings, especially about other characters, during these three days is portrayed, nothing is left out.
Themes in literary works are central, recurring ideas or messages that allow us to understand more deeply about the characters. It is a perception about life or human nature that is often shared with the reader. In The Catcher in the Rye, there are several themes that can be found in the words and actions of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. The dominating theme in this novel is the preservation of innocence, especially of children. We can see this throughout the novel, as Holden strives to preserve innocence in himself and others.
Holden is a pessimistic, remote, and miserable character and he expresses this attitude through dialogue, tone, and diction. Throughout the book he has remained to be a liar, a failure, a loner, and lastly, a suicidal guy who feels like he has no purpose in life. Perhaps Salinger expressed his perceptions and emotions of his teen years in this book and it was a form of conveying his deep inner feelings of his childhood. Readers can see this clearly shown in The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger.
Textual representations position readers to respond to ideas in the novel, the Catcher in the Rye written by JD Salinger. Some textual representations that emphasise the ideas of the novel include, repetition, symbolism and hyperbole. By using these language techniques, it allows the readers to understand the ideas in the novel in a way of how JD Salinger gets his ideas and thoughts across through Holden Caulfield the protagonist.
...p between Gene and Finny. On the other hand, J.D. Salinger’s theme in The Catcher in the Rye was developing through adolescence with depression and confusion in your life. Through the point of view of Holden’s place, his attitude and experience he went through discerned that stress was a big issue to him and struggling through depression as a teen and achieving maturity from it is something the most of us could relate to. Overall, both of the themes in the novels have something to do with social events in our lives and both of the themes became interesting appeals.
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.
In chapter one, Holden’s tone is caustic, incoherent, and bitter. Beginning the novel, Holden says, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it to tell you the truth. [...] I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything” (Salinger 3). Conveying Holden’s bitterness through word choice and syntax, the author delivers a message to his readers about what to expect the rest of the novel in terms of language and tone. His use of the words crap, lousy, and goddam all render to Holden’s pungent