Catcher In The Rye Character Analysis

Brad McCord-4
Rye Catcher The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D Salinger that deals with acceptance of the modern world, alienation, and the retention of youth. The Catcher in the Rye is portrayed through the eyes of Holden Caulfield; a lousy student that is fed up with society and the phoniness of the adult world. J.D Salinger mirrored himself through Holden Caulfield by projecting a shared adolescent life and a favorability toward alienation. J.D Salinger provided many aspects of his life growing up in New York City into The Catcher in the Rye. A very first noticeable aspect is that the setting of the book is New York City. Holden often brings up Central Park and the ducks and how his siblings and he always went there and rejoiced during the weekends. Salinger as a little boy would always exhaust countless hours in Central Park with his siblings, a very fond memory from his youth. Mr. Caulfield, Holden’s father, is said to be a lawyer
and from that you can assume that the family income is substantial. J.D Salinger came from a home where his father was a wealthy cheese importer and provided ample funds for the family. So, Salinger is providing an inside view to his life when Holden is able to travel in a taxi, pay for a hotel for himself, and aimlessly wander from bar to bar looking to become intoxicated. J.D Salinger depicted Holden just like himself in the aspect of having difficulties in a plethora of school systems and excelling in the classroom. Holden’s parents continue to ship him to preparatory schools. Holden does not lack the intelligence, it is just that he does not apply himself in the means of the classroom. He has repetitively received the “ax”(Salinger,4) at every preparatory school he had been sent to. Holden’s parents threatened him with military school if he continued being lackadaisical towards his education. These same experiences apply to J.D Salinger. Salinger was not a powerful student in the classroom and it is not that he lacked intelligence it was lack of interest. He had failed out of many preparatory schools as well and instead of threatening, J.D.’s parents actually shipped him to a military academy in Pennsylvania. In the novel, Pencey Prep, the school Holden attends in Pennsylvania, is an allusion to the military academy Salinger actually attended. Holden did not participate in the sports that were offered at Pencey Prep, instead he was the “manager of the fencing team”(Salinger,3). Salinger was also never involved in sports, but he too was the manager of his schools fencing team. J.D.
Salinger portrayed the character of Holden as being a very anti-social kid. For instance, instead of Holden being “down at the football game with all of his peers”(Salinger,2) cheering on the team, he is standing at the top of a hill watching by himself. Salinger displays that Holden embraces alienation as a choice and not that it is forced upon him by his peers. Holden uses the reclusive actions in order to try and protect himself from the world. Holden’s thoughts about the world are derived directly from Salinger. Salinger despised western culture and disapproved the society that surrounded him. These thoughts arose from Salinger as he attracted more publicity due to The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger, at the height of his fame became a very reclusive man. He relocated his estate from New York City to a secluded 90 acre place in Cornish, New Hampshire. So, even though the novel displays an adolescent with the alienation issues, Holden is just a representation of how J.D Salinger felt when he was an adult in his
30s. J.D. Salinger mirrored himself through Holden Caulfield by projecting a shared adolescent life and a favorability toward alienation. Readers of the novel have the ability to clearly have a look into Salinger’s life due to his characterization of Holden Caulfield. Through Salinger’s writing style, a reader feels as if they are reading a fictional story, when in actuality a personal message is being portrayed.

Works Cited
Salinger, J D, E M. Mitchell, and Lotte Jacobi. The Catcher in the Rye. , 1951. Print.