Holden Caulfield Reflection

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Recommended: Catcher in the Rye Salinger's writing style

A successful writer shows what is going on rather than explaining what is going on. The book The Catcher in the Rye, is a story written by J.D. Salinger. Describing a count of a 17-year-old kid over the period of two or three days, explaining the events that occur. The book is written in a straightforward, engaging, as well as a simple to follow tone. There is also a handful of humor that is expressed throughout the novel. The character Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is seen with an erratic and unreliable personality. The means of him dropping information so effortlessly is discomforting. Another trait Holden acquires is his repetitive manner, which in my interpretation an irritating quality that Holden demonstrates. Though this repetitive

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    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.

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    In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.

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    All-in all, Salinger?s writing style is one of unique, masterminded inventiveness. Some may argue that Salinger has done nothing unique or inventive, but he has combined so many various and beautifully executed writing styles and devices of literature that no one on earth could argue against the fact that J.D. Salinger has masterminded a classic novel that has already lasted over sixty years as a great and controversial story. The examples of relationships, society, and life itself that Salinger has created in The Catcher in the Rye are so exquisite and so timeless that they have already reserved the novel a place in history as one of the greatest stories of all time. As simple and easily understood as the story is, the morals behind the plot and the subtle symbolism scattered all throughout Holden?s tale have turned the teenager?s journey into an epic excursion.

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