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Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, is the story of Holden Caulfield, a cynical sixteen-year-old with prematurely gray hair that appears older than his age. Holden is caught at the awkward age between adolescence and adulthood. Set in the 1950s, the story begins with Holden recovering from a breakdown stemming from his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. Holden has already flunked out of three other schools. This man/child is torn between his desire to take on the trappings of adulthood and his desire to preserves the innocence of childhood. The title is a reference to the way Holden sees the world and his desire to preserve its purity.
The scene in which the author reveals the source of the book's title takes place in Chapter 22. Holden has left school and snuck back into his parents Manhattan apartment. He is speaking with his ten-year-old sister Phoebe in his older brother's bedroom. Phoebe is six years Holden's junior, yet in many aspects has a superior understanding...
She is distraught that Holden has been expelled from another school, "Daddy's going to kill you. He's going to kill you" (p. 224).
As way of explanation for his latest failure Holden tells his sister, "It was one of the worst schools I ever went to. It was full of phonies (p. 217). He talks about his fellow students, the faculty, and the alumni, "God Phoebe! I can't explain. I just didn't like anything that was happening at Pencey. I can't explain" (p. 219).
Phoebe responds, "You don't like anything that's happening" and challenges him to "Name one thing" (p.220). Holden eventually names his dead brother Allie, and then that he likes where he is right at that moment. Phoebe then asks him to "Name something you'd like to be" (p. 223). And Holden responds,
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around- nobody…
Works Cited
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye was first published in 1951. The novel deals with the issues of identity, belonging, connection and alienation. This paper will review five articles written on the novel. "Holden's Irony in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye" This article by Lisa Privitera was published in Explicator in 2008. The article postulates that the irony of Holden Cauldfield is that the harder he
1. "I can't see anything religious or pretty, for God's sake, about a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage" (137). ironic in his rejection of martyrs. 2. "we looked at the stuff the Indians had made in ancient times" (118). This simplicity makes Holden happy 3. "They gave me Out of Africa" (18). Allusion to a more mysterious and exotic place, but escape is still desired (implied in
Sets up the fact that no one can really be trusted. f. "They were always showing Columbus discovering America" (120). Shows Holden's disillusionment with the world and discovery. g. "told her I was going to South America with my grandmother" (58). Illustrates his conception of exoticism; depth/scope of imagination 5) Antolini's (possible) sexual advance -- ironic because it is what Holden was seeking from girls through much of the book, found unsought and
Because Salinger allows him to stay in that world, we can cling to Holden as a pleasant memory. The Catcher in the Rye is told from Holden's perspective and this aspect of the novel allows it to remain innocent and suspended in time, so to speak. Holden is like Peter Pan in that he does not wantr to grow up but he is facing the glorious future that includes his
With such a vivid description of this densely populated, and optimistic city on the east coast during a time of growth and construction itself after the Great Depression of the 1930's, this element leaves a reader to focus in on the lead character here. Plus, elements such as his age and his "red hunting hat" demonstrate that he will direly hold on to that sense of self. However, his
J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The writer discusses the isolation that is experienced by the protagonist Holden and how that isolation is illustrated in the book. In today's world teenagers are said to have a harder time than those of yesteryear. Many experts disagree with this statement and point to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye to illustrate that teens have historically had a hard time finding their way