Use Of Slang In Catcher In The Rye

The use of slang in the book, The Catcher in the Rye, enriches the novel by opening a window into real life. By using language throughout the book that mirrors how teenagers really act and think and say, Salinger is bringing young readers closer in to Holden’s world. The use of slang makes it easier to relate to Holden, and what he is going through, than if the book had been written in a straight literary manner. I allows readers of all ages to connect to the emotional message of the book, and allows one to really connect to the characters.
Historically, teenagers have a language they think is all unto themselves. As any adult how they spoke as a young adult, and most likely they will own up to cursing, and the liberal use of slang. Slang, a term uniquely its own, but able to be stuck to any generation. The use of slang is not unique to a generation, although the slang used, may be. Each new generation of teenagers comes up with its own language. It stems from the breaking away from the parents, on the ultimate quest for independence. Each generation

experiences the intricacies, and torment, of the teen years. Holden feels all the angst, apathy, and fear that many teenagers feel, he just was never taught to look past them, outside of his own roiling emotional torment, into the great wide world. He wants to connect with people, with any one, but he fails so miserably that the fall out from those failings has lead him to a state of complete isolation from personal contact, and from the understanding of himself. This is the case for many teenagers, for many generations.
The use of slang in the book, and the relationship this brings us into with the characters, is what makes this book such a classic. Some people may be bothered by the realism, and because the message all the way through the book can be misinterpreted to say that connection with other people only leaves you wide open to hurt, betrayal, and abandonment. But others are able to look beyond that obvious lesson, and see that the book is about connecting, and the benefits that come with allowing, and having other people in your life. Simple language engages our minds and brings us into the book. Simple language allowed Holden to start connections with other people, or to keep them at a distance. He struggled throughout the whole book to find one person he could understand, and who could understand him. We, the readers, can see the people around him struggling to connect back, to reach this troubled and lonely young man. It makes us want to lean in and tell him the secret, if we knew it. To tell him that it is going to be okay.
The use of common language throughout the book allows the teenage boys reading this book to become enmeshed.

That usage works to make this book very relatable to everyone, but especially to other sixteen year old boys. This book is Holden’s legacy; His story, thoughts, feelings, and experiences spread before us in black and white. Swimming across our minds, and either drawing us in or repelling us. But capturing our imaginations and attention all the same. It is also us ed to underline the happenings in the book and makes the reader aware that certain things are happening. Holden generally has a specific reason for using curse words. They underline extreme emotion, or thoughts, about a specific thing. Holden curses to show extreme dislike, or anger towards something, or someone. Cursing is also used to alert the reader that the events occurring have significance to Holden, or another

character.
Salinger’s use of slang and curse words throughout the book, A Catcher in the Rye, emphasized and underlined the traumas, angst, and issues that his character faced throughout the book. There were instances that drew our attention and memories into the book, making it easy to imagine ourselves in Holden, and the other characters, positions and circumstances. They made the book more relatable. Thus allowing us to follow Holden’s thinking more clearly, by adding the emotion behind his cursing, onto the page. Everyone can relate to using slang, and cursing. We all know why we utilize these two avenues of speech. All of those little words drew us in and allowed us to see Holden and the other characters as real people. It allowed us to become a part of the story, in our heads. I caused this sixteen year old boy to feel the emotions spoken about and portrayed, to be able to relate to the characters, especially Holden. Salinger opened a window into real life, and offered us a view from the eyes and mind of a troubled and sick sixteen year old young man, who had never learned to cope or deal with life’s trials and disappointment. One to whom life was a big obstacle course of danger and disappointment. Holden couldn’t get out of his own head long enough to really see or feel the world around him. He was a young man struggling to be an adult, while viewing the adult world as one full of phonies and with a cynical distrust of all parts of it. His goal to grow up, is directly countered and sabotaged by his inability to respond to any emotional or physical intimacy on a mature level. By the end of the book he has chosen to retreat into himself, and his safety net of childhood memories, rather than attempt to continue into the dangerous and painful world of adulthood. Holden pushes everyone away, protecting himself from any relationship, using alienation as a form of self-defense.