Examples Of Foreshadowing In Catcher In The Rye

When Salinger wrote Catcher in the Rye in 1951, the United States death rate for tuberculosis was 22.5% whereas in 2013 (the most recent data) the tuberculosis death rate for the United States was .00014%. Holden Caulfield narrates the story from a rehab center in Hollywood after recovering from a mental breakdown. Holden is recounting the 3-day experience where he is exposed to the real world and many life-changing moments. Holden begins to act like an adult and take on responsibilities while he acts less like the kid who did not apply himself in many different schools. In Catcher In the Rye, Salinger portrays Holden’s maturing by using point of view, foreshadowing, and symbolism to convey that nobody is immune to madness and depression and

that can cause a person to act differently.
Salinger utilizes point of view to show the story as Holden experienced it and how it brought madness and depression to him. The effects of madness and depression are widespread and nobody is immune to them, they can also influence how people act and how people carry themselves. By using a narrator that speaks in an extremely informal and vulgar tone and vocabulary that is uneducated and rude, the story is able to connect to people who are also going through madness and depression. Holden’s view on death and burial is a unique one, which is contrary to most people’s views on the subject, he says, “When you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.” (155) This makes Holden mad because in his past, Allie’s burial was a rough point in Holden’s life and now burials make him depressed and he becomes angry when the subject is brought up because he believes that there is no reason to have burials. Holden also has an opinion on girls and how they make him act differently when they make him mad “That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.” (73) Holden says this about girls because he is at a point in his life where he does not really know what he is going to do with his life and girls are another thing that makes him mad and depressed. Holden’s opinions on both death and girls portray how he thinks and how Salinger uses him so that readers can see how Holden views the situation and how he interprets and reacts to it causing him to feel mad and depressed.
Salinger uses foreshadowing to expose future events and to build up suspense.

By the use of foreshadowing, the reader gets a feeling of deja vu when reading, and it allows the author to build suspense for later in the story. Holden feels like he is disappearing crossing the road on his way to Mr. Spencer’s house. It happens again in New York where he asks Allie to help him get across the street even though he knows that Allie is not longer alive. “It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road” (5) This depresses Holden because he realizes that he has not done anything with meaning in his life and that his childhood may be over before he makes an impact on life. Holden is also in a mental hospital at the beginning of the story and he tells the story from that setting which is foreshadowing a mental breakdown in the rest 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. I mean, that's all I told D.B. about, and he's my brother and all. He's in Hollywood. That isn't too far from this crumby place.” (1) This foreshadows events that lead to Holden’s instatement into the mental hospital because of how mad he was after getting kicked out of Pencey. Foreshadowing shows how madness and depression do not only impact Holden in the present time, but also

in the past.
Salinger uses symbolism to add value to certain objects and to put a meaning behind an object and to show how objects cause Holden to feel mad and depressed. By using symbolism, an inanimate object can have worth or value and it allows for the object to represent something in the story, whether it be an actual object or something like a characters feelings or mindset.
Allie’s baseball mitt is a symbol of Holden not forgetting about Allie. It represents how Holden is clinging to the past and how he has not forgot Allie’s death. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie. My hand still hurts me once in awhile when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist any more – not a tight one, I mean – but outside of that I don't care much. I mean I'm not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway” (38)
Holden aspires to be the catcher in the rye so that he may save himself and save other children from “falling” into adulthood and becoming phonies.

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.” (173) Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye because he wants to save himself and other children from falling into the phoniness of adulthood. The symbols of both the baseball mitt and being the catcher in the rye are used to portray a deeper meaning about Holden and his emotions and actions. He becomes depressed when thinking about kids becoming adults or when he thinks about his

past.
In summary, Salinger uses point of view, foreshadowing, and symbolism to portray Holden and how he reacts to his own madness and depression while approaching adulthood and phoniness. Madness and depression affect many people, and it affects those who feel alone the most. People who feel like they have nobody that they can trust are usually affected the most be madness and depression. Even the most physically strong person is not immune to madness and depression, and it can affect anyone at any time.

Works Cited
Salinger, J. D., E. Michael Mitchell, and Lotte Jacobi. The Catcher in the Rye. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.