Examples Of Language In Catcher In The Rye

Language Choice Within “The Catcher In The Rye”

In “The Catcher in the Rye” a coming of age story is told of Holden Caulfield. Many conflicts with maturity arise in coming of age literature. Throughout the reading of the text a large amount of graphic language is used by the narrator. The constant cursing and references to classes of people in derogatory terms permeate throughout the reading. This fact alone causes the book to be controversial and in turn banned from many curriculums. The language is often called into question of necessity especially when exposing younger readers to literature. In Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” the vulgarity of the chosen language is necessary to show the character’s multiple inner conflicts.
The death of Holden Caulfield’s little brother, Allie, proves to be a conflict that Holden struggles with throughout the story. At one point Holden recalls “I
broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it . . . I don’t care much. I mean I’m not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway” (Salinger, 39). At this point in conversation Holden is recalling the night that his brother died. He admired his brother greatly for his intelligence and sensitivity. When Holden is speaking of his brother the language is always directed at admiration of him until being faced with dealing with the fact that he is gone. When facing the fact of Allie’s death the word choice is always shifted to cursing as shown above when Holden is beating in the windows in the garage. This language is a way for the narrator to shift the focus onto this betrayal as he felt it. Holden never really makes peace with the death and feels it to be unfair. The word choice helps to transition the tone of the character into one of deep cynicism and helps Holden avoid introspection.
One of the most common conflicts in coming of age literature is sexuality and “The Catcher in the Rye” exhibits this inner conflict often. Holden Caulfield is often times challenged with his sexual maturity and how he views others’ sexuality. When Holden is returning home from Pencey he stays at a hotel to avoid his parents for two days. Upon checking in at the hotel, he views across from his window a couple that are taking turns spitting their drinks on each other. Holden proceeds to call them perverts stating “I was probably the only normal bastard in the whole place” (Salinger, 62). Holden goes on to admit that that kind of behavior fascinated him to watch and aroused him. He reassures himself of his sexual maturity by stating “I mean that’s my big trouble. In my mind I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (Salinger, 62). In reality Caulfield had never had sex and found it hard to be intimate with a woman. The tone that he uses in this scene is merely some kind of attitude he has made up and he uses it to explore the little that he knows of sexuality. Continually, Holden tries to portray himself as an individual of experience even though it is not the reality. The language is very important in Holden’s self justification of this experience.
Sex and sexuality are seen by Caulfield to be a loss of innocence. Jane Gallagher was a friend of Caulfield’s that had been brought up numerous times in his thoughts. Holden would continually focus on Jane’s innocence and sought to protect that innocence. Jane went on a date with Holden’s roommate Stradlater who was particularly experienced with ladies. Holden thinks about this date often during and after its actual occurrence. Long after the date Holden thinks “I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again . . . [I] thought about her and Stradlater sitting in that goddam Ed Banky’s car, and though I was pretty damn sure old Stradlater hadn’t given her the time – I know old Jane like a book” (Salinger, 76). Holden’s frustration is apparent in the text because of the reoccurrence of his paranoid feelings of that date. It is important to Holden that he protects Jane. The reality of the story is that Holden is never really protecting Jane. In the case of this date, he simply tries to convince himself that all efforts were made. The use of what is adult language to Holden would make him feel justified in this protector role and further his feelings of frustration. Another main idea that consumes most of Holden’s thoughts is that most people are fakes or phonies.
Upon arriving in New York, Holden leaves his hotel to go out to drink. Caulfield meets a group of three women that he considers “phonies” and dances with them and buys their drinks. Holden thought “the whole three of them kept looking all around the goddam room, like as if they expected a flock of goddam movie stars to come in” (Salinger, 73). The whole time with these women, Holden is trying to interact and even pretended to have seen a movie star for their enjoyment. Holden protects himself with such cynicism he is not able to see his own faults since his thoughts are always on other people. The language he uses to describe the women shows his obvious disdain for their actions. It seems that the more often he curses it only justifies Holden’s stance to himself, so that he can only think of others and how he views them. The language that Holden uses throughout the text successfully alienate him from any and all groups he seeks out leading to his eventual
breakdown.
Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye” extensive cursing and vulgarity are used from the prospective of the narrator Holden Caulfield. As a coming of age story the language is chosen to show frustration and lack of understanding in some very large issues. Death, sexuality and loneliness are all deeply rooted problems and conflicts for Holden that cause his eventual breakdown. These huge underlying issues of the story would lack depth and meaning without the chosen language.