Preview

D. Salinger's Writing Techniques In The Catcher In The Rye

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
383 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
D. Salinger's Writing Techniques In The Catcher In The Rye
Although J.D. Salinger used many writing techniques in the novel the CATCHER in the RYE the two that stand out the most are how he used detail and diction. Salinger used these two techniques to help characterize Holden Caulfield as a realist in the novel to show different people's perspectives.

The first technique that Salinger used to help characterize Holden is diction. The constant use of negative language made Holden seem mean and more of a realist because he didn't use bad words for good things or bad things, he just used those words to describe the things in front of him. For instance in the opening lines Holden said “whole school except me was there, and scrawny and faggy on the Saxon Hall side, because the visiting team hardly ever

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden Caulfield is J.D. Salinger’s main character in The Catcher in the Rye. We learn several interesting things about Holden, however, while learning the these we are not experiencing or seeing what Holden is. We learn about it through Holden’s perspective throughout the entire story like, for example, the death of his younger brother, Allie or the time James Castle committed suicide by jumping out of the school window. Most of these experiences have a significant meaning behind them and we find these out by reading the book. We get to know Holden in a personal way. While reading, comprehending, and understanding Holden’s emotions towards the encounters he has with the characters in this book, which makes it very interesting.…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    J.D. Salinger’s book, The Catcher in the Rye, constantly gets debated on whether high school English classes need to read it. Despite the crude language and R-rated stories, every high schooler needs to read this book. After the book gets dissected, the deeper meanings of the story come about and show the importance for reading the book.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, from two very different sides. On one hand, Holden is passionate about the protection of innocence, and he attempts to shelter all kids, especially his younger sister Phoebe, from any knowledge which might compromise their innocence. On the other hand, Holden is repeatedly revealed to be experienced and knowledgeable in society. He constantly swears, drinks, and smokes, sharply criticizes everyone he sees, and generally does not conform to society. Because Holden lost his own innocence so early in his life, he becomes fascinated with the idea of guarding it in others. Salinger shows Holden protecting the innocence of people many times throughout the novel. Some examples include Holden’s anxiety about Jane, Holden’s protection of Phoebe, and Holden’s general frustration…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With it’s aggressive cynicism, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye broke stereotypes of what tones writers could exhibit through narration. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of young Holden Caulfield angst-ridden struggle with growing up and dealing with “phonies”. Holden is the protagonist and narrator of this story, Holden’s narration proves to be unreliable through his compulsive lying, inconsistent memory, and his cynical perception of reality.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes about a troubled teen named Holden Caulfield who undergoes failing school and travels through New York City at night. Salinger depicts Holden as someone with uncontrollable anger, many anxieties, extreme loneliness, powerful love, and numerous fears. All of this molds Holden into a complex person with an unusual personality and unique traits that make him different and unable to accept most of the people around him. In addition, there seems to be a deep connection between many of the things that he did and his own personality traits. The most prominent traits of Holden Caulfield, displayed through his speech, actions, and thoughts, are that he is judgmental, lonely, and depressed.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine being kicked out of many different schools after your brother passed away and all while not having many friends and being bullied. That is exactly what happened to Holden Caulfield, the main character in the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Salinger uses many different symbols throughout the book to show Holden’s maturation and thoughts as he goes through a very stressful time in his life.…

    • 775 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    He sees adults and friends who succumb to these norms, and he outwardly looks down upon them and call them phonies of society. As an author, J.D. Salinger created Holden Caulfield as a character to challenge the expected norms of this time period, and as a whole, the novel addresses the challenge of accepting societal norms and diverging from norms to create a different lifestyle. For Holden, although many other reasons attribute to his refusal to accept society, he mainly believes that the 1950’s American Dream culture valuing marriage, family and education is not one that he wishes to be associated with. It is also crucial to note that by the end of the novel, Holden ends up in a mental institution, the location from which he narrates Catcher in the Rye. This element of the novel is crucial to our understanding of Holden as a character; he seems to have rejected the values and views of the post-war era so intensely, he is literally unable to function and has been…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Holden Caulfield Controversy

    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages

    J. D. Salinger’s composition of The Catcher in the Rye served as a turning point for American literature and society. It evoked many strong emotions within readers and critics alike. Although the book as a whole was largely discussed, the most controversial subject was the main character Holden Caulfield. Many Americans in the mid 1900’s saw Holden as a corrupt and disturbed person. “He is a drifter, a wanderer, an adventurer who seeks not adventure but smut and the negative satisfaction of a negative rebellion” (Moore 34). However, this is not necessarily a valid statement. In some lights, Holden’s surface character comes across in an unfavorable fashion. Nonetheless, when his life and personality are dissected, it becomes evident that…

    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this novel, Holden Caulfield gets kicked out of his school and stays in New York for a couple of days before returning home. During his travels Holden does not maintain any relationships and he associates most adults with being phony. He is constantly trying to protect himself and his sister Phoebe from being exposed to the harsh adult world. In The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses rhetorical devices to explain Holden’s struggles and establish the theme of preserving his own innocence and the innocence of those around him.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Themes

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    J. D. Salinger published Catcher in the Rye in 1951. Later, he wrote several short stories after. The story takes place in New York City in the late 1940s, after WWII. Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye is faced with the problem of growing up in New York. Throughout the book, the theme of growing up is showed. In the story, New York is a society in which there are a lot of phonies. Holden constantly resists the pull of adulthood as it faces him in life. J. D. Salinger develops the theme of growing up through New York and Holden’s resistance to the society.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in Rye speaks to core of being an outsider, but beyond the anti-hero, anti-establishment persona that Holden reflects, Salinger wrote a portrait of a boy deeply troubled by the end of simplicity. Past the cynical nature and the reclusion from people, Holden is a little boy saddened by the death of his brother. Holden was never able to get closure over Allie’s death and because of this he has never been able to move on. To remember his brother and a simpler time Holden treasures innocence and has remained a child himself in many ways. Through the uses of metaphorical landscapes, a relatable anti-hero, and the setting of a repressed post-war American society Salinger depicts the journey of a young boy fighting, resisting the transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden Caulfield’s cynicism and reclusion are his defense mechanism, they warn of phony and slobs alike, but leave him lonely. He is both a figure for the youth and old alike, because Holden’s disdain of hypocrisy, longing for innocence, and his need for acceptance transcend age groups, these are human emotions that bother any age group. At the end of the novel, Holden says “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214). There are times when Holden comes off as neurotic, but in this case he meant that you will the way life used to be if you remember it. At the end Holden realizes that Allie’s death and his longing to go back to his childhood were holding him back, keeping him from applying himself. Many readers come away from that last line and feel that there is no happy ending for Holden, but the negative tone of the comment is less of a warning and more of a new being for Holden, meaning that Holden’s dream of being the catcher in the rye can can…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Adulthood

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Many things in the world shape who people become. Everyone makes mistakes, they try to learn from them and try to move on and not dwell on the past. One’s mistakes and the experiences that people go through in life shape the person that they become. In the Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger shows, various characters, events and symbols that illustrate Holden Caulfield’s struggles to accept his inevitable transition into adulthood. Multiple people in the novel show and explain to Holden that there is more to life than being a child. The events in Holden’s life have made it challenging to let go of the past. The various symbols displayed in the novel demonstrate Holden’s fight against becoming an adult. His lifestyle choices create…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athletic Training Speech

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Here We Go, Warriors, Here We Go!” *Clap Clap* “OLE! OLE! OLE! OLE!” “ MVP! MVP!” Do you feel the adrenaline rush! Can you picture the energy from the team on the field, and the fans crowded in the stands! You ask why Athletic Training, and I say because the love of sports and the intrigue of science, which has brought me on the journey to pursue a degree in Athletic Training.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Junk shop and Scrap Business is a simple buy and sell business, which is less considered by many since the traded products are unclean and soiled. But in another view, it is a lucrative business that generates a lot of money both for garbage collectors and junk shop owners.…

    • 1123 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drugs in India

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages

    India is a world leader in generic drug manufacturing. Their previous policies for food and pharmaceutical patents paved the way for this. Since India’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January of 1995 there has been an increasing push for reform of India’s patent laws. While there have been reforms made to the patent laws to comply with WTO regulations, they contain vague and somewhat easily exploitable language. It is without question that affordable generics medications produced in India are necessary throughout the world especially in places like India. This essay will examine a compromise for both sides of the situation so that medications can be received by those who need them the most.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays