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Aspect of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye that is interesting to you
The catcher in the rye - levels of understanding j d salinger
The catcher in the rye - levels of understanding j d salinger
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From the day that J.D. Salinger published his book “The Catcher in the Rye”, it has maintained its title as one of the most controversial books on the shelf. Society has taken the poor elements such as prostitution and under-aged drinking and used it to ban the book in many schools and libraries. Whether or not reading this book has any importance to youth has been the greatest argument for most of society. The book compiles many underlying issues in teenager’s lives and the main character Holden very bluntly acknowledges them. Holden also calls out the phoniness that most adults participate in around others.The book's status as inappropriate and unimportant has been argued for and against since the book was written. Through Salinger’s use …show more content…
Salinger’s text, “The Catcher in the Rye”, he uses multiple forms of rhetoric to make his text more valuable for young adults. One form that he used was an allusion. In the beginning of his book, Holden is in his dorm and decides to tell the reader about the books he is reading. He explained, “they gave me out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. It was a very good book” (Salinger 18). In the book “Out of Africa” the main character Karen is the defender all the people that live on her farm. By alluding to this text, Salinger provides that Holden relates to Karen in that he wants to help others as well. Through Holden’s aspirations of being a good samaritan, Salinger is able to provide greater value for young adults that read his book. High school students could possibly be encouraged by Holden’s hopes of helping others. Not only does Salinger use allusions in his book, but also Holden’s tone. All through the text, Holden possesses a compassionate tone. This was most easily noticeable when he describes his encounters with the prostitute. In the text he says, “I took her dress and hung it up in the closet for her… I thought of her going to the store and buying it and nobody knowing she was a prostitute… It made me feel sad as hell” (Salinger 96). In this excerpt, it is obvious that holden has a sense of compassion upon the prostitute. He describes that he felt sad when he thought of her buying the dress. From Holden’s compassionate tone, “The Catcher in the Rye” provides a positive element of sympathy for youth to mimic. Holden’s sympathetic actions can also be viewed as an attempt to erase his rebellious actions. As the reader views his various instances of compassion on others, they slowly forget about his less mature actions. Holden’s dialogue can also be viewed as a positive form of rhetoric in Salinger's text. Youth in the 1950’s around the time that “The Catcher in the Rye” was published were rebellious in all their actions . They wanted to do exactly what
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.
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on himself.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
Innocence lies within everyone in at least one point in their lives, but as reality consumes them, that purity begins to vanish slowly as they learn new experiences. In the coming of age novel set in the nineteen-forties, J.D Salinger writes about a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who stands between a road that separates childhood from adulthood and is confused about which path to take. On a three-day trip in New York away from his family and fellow peers at school, Holden encounters many situations in which lead him to think twice about who he wants to become and how he wants to guide others who are in the same situation he is in. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger utilizes symbolism, vivid imagery, and slangy diction to expose Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of the people that he loves while alienating himself from the adult world he calls “phony.”
Protected by a cocoon of naiveté, Holden Caulfield, the principal character in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, therapeutically relates his lonely 24 hour stay in downtown New York city, experiencing the "phony" adult world while dealing with the death of his innocent younger brother. Through this well-developed teenage character, JD Salinger, uses simple language and dialogue to outline many of the complex underlying problems haunting adolescents. With a unique beginning and ending, and an original look at our new society, The Catcher in the Rye is understood and appreciated on multiple levels of comprehension. The book provides new insights and a fresh view of the world in which adolescents live.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel set in New York during the 1940’s. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, is a detached seventeen-year old boy harboring feelings of isolation and disillusionment. He emphasizes a general dislike for society, referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find nearly everything depressing. He’s alone most of the time and it’s apparent that he is very reclusive. This often leads him to pondering about his own death and other personal issues that plague him without immediate resolution. Holden possesses a strong deficit of affection – platonic and sexual – that hinders and cripples his views toward people, his attitude, and his ability to progressively solve his problems without inflicting pain on himself. The absence of significant figures in his life revert him to a childlike dependency and initiate his morbid fascination with sexuality. In this novel, Salinger uses Sunny, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce to incorporate the hardships of discovering sexual identity and how these events affect adolescents as they try to understand their own sexuality.
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.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, shows great relevance towards the teenagers of the 21st century, even though the novel was written during the 1950’s. The novel focuses on main character Holden, his development through the course of the book which included his delinquent tendencies. These were manipulated to express Salinger’s views of teens and society during that time. The Catcher in the Rye is still relevant today because teen culture from the 1950’s can be correlated with that of the culture of present day teenagers.
Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher In the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger has served as a conflagration for debate and extreme controversy. Although the novel has been the target of scornful criticism, it has also been the topic of wide discussion. The novel portrays the life of sixteen year old, Holden Caufield. Currently in psychiatric care, Holden recalls what happened to him last Christmas. At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72-hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior. Such issues have supplemented the controversial nature of the book and in turn, have sparked the question of whether or not this book should be banned. The novel, The Catcher In the Rye, should not be banned from inclusion in the literature courses taught at the high school level.
In, The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger explores the 1950s adult society through the eyes of an emerging young adult. Holden Caulfield navigates through unidentified pressures at Pencey Prep School and New York City. As Holden longs for some genuine intimacy he discovers “phony” attitudes, which many individuals have. He soon resents “phony” attitudes, as they are hypocritical, resulting in the avoidance of these individuals. This problem progresses as it only touches the surface of the adult world and its adverse traits. Holden’s hatred for “phony” people and pursuit for intimacy produce damaging effects. Thus, realizing that, the adult world removes the innocence of children because it creates a desire for intimacy. Contributing to depression
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes:
J. D. Salinger presents an image of an atypical adolescent boy in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is much more than a troubled teen going through "a phase." Indeed Holden is a very special boy with special needs. He doesn’t understand and doesn’t wish to understand the world around him. In fact most of the book details his guilty admissions of all the knowledge he knows but wishes he didn’t. Though his innocence regarding issues of school, money, and sexuality has already been lost, he still hopes to protect others from knowing about these adult subjects.
What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one had anything better to offer. It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examinations? Why won't he talk to us?"