Diction and syntax play a huge role in how the story is portrayed. Diction is the choice and use of certain words in a writing. Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases in writing. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield uses specific language throughout the book which shows Holden’s emotional state throughout the entire book.
Holden uses certain words within the book to show his emotional state. For example, Holden uses the word “depressed” more than once throughout the entire book. Holden says, “I’m so depressed” and “This is so depressing” which clearly shows how much emotional stress Holden goes through. As the book comes to an end Holden uses the word “depressed” more frequently. This highlights the fact that Holden is coming closer to an emotional breakdown. However, this is not the only word that reflects Holden’s emotional state.
Another example of the diction used within The Catcher and the Rye is the use of the word “phony”. Holden constantly uses this word to describe people or people’s actions. Holden even uses this word to describe people ...
Salinger uses specific motifs and symbols to illustrate Holden’s naive and unrealistic view of the world. A great example of this is when he believes he can be the catcher in the rye. By doing so he imagines he is able to maintain all the innocence within society. Holden
In The Catcher in the Rye, the plot shows the occurrence of depression in Holden in different ways. A few different occasions throughout the novel showcase Holden saying rude statements directed at himself. During Holden’s stay at the hotel in New York City, Holden mutters, “The whole lobby was empty. It smelled like fifty million dead cigars. It really did. I wasn't sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead”(Salinger 90). Holden clearly shows signs of depression as he believes that life is not worth living any longer.
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...
Holden Caulfield is a typical depressive teenager that exhibits negative views about growing up. Depression is made up of many categories of symptoms, such as emotional, physical, behavioral, and how one perceives life. These symptoms, take over Holden, due to his lack of knowledge on how to control his feelings.
In the novel, Holden is a conflicted 17-year-old teenager that discriminates, has low self-esteem, and seems to be depressed. The way the author dexterously uses his words depicts how Holden feels, purposely summoning emotions within the reader to understand the situation the character faces. “Then, all of a sudden, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it […] but once you get started, you can’t just stop on a goddam dime,” (Salinger, 179). The use of the profanity in this quote is so that the reader realizes how conflicted Holden is about crying. It produces emotions in anyone who reads it. Students can learn from this storyline because it gives them the ability to feel what they are reading – to understand. This is not flawed writing, nor is it meant to be offensive; it is purely the objective of this form of literature – to present an artificial reality and to inv...
In life there comes a time when everyone thinks that they are surrounded by phoniness. This often happens during the teen years when the person is trying to find a sense of direction. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction in J.D. Salinger's, "The Catcher In The Rye." Holden has recently been expelled from Pency Prep for failing four out of his five classes. He decides to start his Christmas recess early and head out to New York. While in New York Holden faces new experiences, tough times and a world of "phony." Holden is surrounded by phoniness because that is the word he uses to identify everything in the world that he rejects.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word “phony” to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are“phony”, it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character’s use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
Did you know that the environment you grow up in greatly effects your personality? The setting in a novel is where and when a story occurs. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye takes place in northeastern United States during the late 1940s or early 1950s. The main character, Holden Caulfield, adventure begins in Agerstone, PA at Pencey Prep and then moves to New York City. Pencey Prep was an exclusive all boys school in a suburban neighborhood. New York City was much like the modern NYC. It was a big city with a lot of action. The setting, Pencey and NYC, influenced Holden’s actions and contributed to the conflict of the novel.
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, in the U.S. alone, 5.5 million teens suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, which is approximately 4% of teenage boys and 6% of teenage girls. PTSD is a mental health disorder triggered by a traumatic event, in a person’s life and causes depression, anger and loneliness along with aggression, out-of-place sexual behavior, self-harm, abuse of drugs or alcohol, low self-worth, and not being able to trust others. Although only a small number of people are diagnosed with PTSD, most people have felt the effects of at least one of its symptoms in some way after a traumatic incident in their life. Consequently, a literary character that is experiencing many of these symptoms is easy to relate to for many readers due to the fact that they understand what the character is going through. One stellar example of a character displaying the majority of the symptoms of PTSD is Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Because of Holden’s timeless struggles, along with the novel’s historical setting and important life lessons, Catcher in the Rye is a crucial book for high school students to read.
The negative light that Holden views the world under is a key contribution to his unhappiness. He is unable to see even a glint of sincerity in people’s actions which allows him to experience feelings of severe despondency and dejection. “People never give your message to anybody,” (pg. 166) shows how Holden no longer feels let down by people but instead expects the worst from them instead. He struggles to find genuinity in people’s actions, and in turn feels “lousy and depressed,” by nearly everything. Holden is constantly seen bringing down the adult world. It is shown he has an inner conflict between his adult and child self, leading him to feeling lost and without a place. He is disgusted by the adult world describing it as a place filled with “phonies” but, views adolescence as a source of happiness. He shows a direct fear of change by stating, “The best thing...was that everything always stayed right where it was.” (pg. 135). As Holden is being pushed out of his childhood and into an area where he feels out of place, it is only inevitable that this would be a source of his depression. Both of these internal conflicts add to Holden Caulfield’s
J.D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden's encounters with other people. He divides all people into two different categories, the "phonies" and the authentics. Holden refers to a "phony" as someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite, or has manifestations of conformity. A person's age, gender, and occupation, play a key role in how Holden interacts with them.
One of the reasons I enjoyed reading this book so much is because of its use of colloquial language. This made it a really quick read for me, and I spent more time focusing on what Holden was saying or describing rather than trying to interpret complicated language. Holden uses cuss words and incorrect grammar a lot, and this makes him a lot more relatable as a character. He doesn’t seem like some distant, boring character, but rather like an everyday guy that you would want to engage in a conversation with. This novel covers some pretty serious topics, and the use of colloquial language helps to “lighten the mood” and make the book more humorous. This thus allows for the message of the novel to be understood more clearly. The colloquialism
Holden constantly referring to others, throughout the book, as being phony. In The Catcher in the
Holden makes reference to the word "phony" forty-four separate times throughout the novel (Corbett 68-73). Each time he seems to be referring to the subject of this metaphor as -- someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite about something, or has manifestations of conformity (Corbett 71). Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden describes and interacts with various members of his family. The way he talks about or to each gives you some idea of whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each family member.