English II
8th Period
The Catcher in the Rye Essay (Great or Not)
Is this Great or just Good?
Literature, among other things way for people to lose themselves in an entertaining story about a subject that require little thinking and raises very few questions, or it can be the complete opposite, which is a really badly told story with a very intriguing concept of discussion. But Great Literature requires both parts to inform the audience of a touchy, edgy, or tender subject or at least brings it to their attention, and does this in an exciting entertaining way so that the reader wants to know what happens next and gives them with something to take away from the experience. It remains up to the writer to skillfully blend these two elements before his or her work can be classified as Great Literature and survive the stand the test of time.
William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain and Harper Lee are just a few writers, who have been able to combine Good story with a good concept, but the question still remains, can J.D Salinger stand next to these greats based on his novel, The Catcher in the Rye because if or when it is deemed as Great Literature, it has a certain level of expectation for everyone who picks it up. Question that arise are will it be able to stand the test of time? Will later generations consider it as Great Literature? J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye should not be considered as Great Literature because while having a great story concept was unable to give and exiting well rounded story.
In The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger was able to create an intriguing concept for with the reader was to explore. The story is about a troubled rich kid, named Holden Caulfield. He is troubled about the sudden death of his brother, Allie. Holden throughout the story indulges himself in many vices namely to help himself easy his pain. In Chapter Fourteen Holden does both at the same time. “I sat in a chair of a while and smoked a couple