Holden Caulfield Catharsis

JD Salinger emphasized that a novel is not its author. Holden notes that when he finishes a book, “You wish the author was a good friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it,” and while Holden seeks an author who will empathize with him, Salinger rejects that very notion (Salinger 6). Even though Salinger despises the assumed connection between the novel and its author, in analyzing The Catcher in the Rye, hints of Salinger’s attitudes and experiences are seen throughout the development of Holden Caulfield. Crucial to the profile of JD Salinger are the atrocities he had witnessed in war. In 1950, when the novel was finished, it was a clear product of catharsis. After all, the character of Holden had been
Salinger described the story as, “a sad little comedy about a prep school boy on Christmas vacation” (Slawenski 2). Without any justification from Holden’s train of thought, “Slight Rebellion...” exhibits the chilling truth behind Holden’s weakening hold on his mental stability. It resembles the attitude Salinger would have in the middle of war - disgusted by the heinous savery of war, but unwilling to divulge majorly personal details. “Slight Rebellion…” is the first sign of Salinger’s arrested development and the transference of his attitude onto Holden. His immature ponderings of inconsequentially running away with Sally coincide with Salinger inability to directly confront his struggled loss of innocence. While this can be perceived as negative, “prolonged adolescence… fosters novelty-seeking and the acquisition of new skills” (Brown 3). Salinger suspends Holden in time to fully explore the potential of a meandering
The changes that Salinger makes in Holden from “I’m Crazy” to the novel are somewhat subtle but entirely detrimental to his character. While Salinger still lends a blunt, matter-of-fact voice to Holden, it is easier to separate Holden into two distinct entities: the Holden who describes to the audience his mental thought processes and the Holden who actually speaks and interacts with his surroundings. It gives the reader further insight as to what extent Holden is dishonest to himself. And in this difference, the novel becomes subtly darker; suddenly, the reader and others in the novel, such as Sally Hayes and Stradlater, are aware of Holden’s collapsing mental state, but Holden assumes his ideas are normal and perfectly sane. In the first person narration, Holden more commonly uses “you” instead of “I” to remove himself from the emotion of the situation. Likewise, his use of “goddam” and “sort of” allow him to subtly communicate the inner workings of his mind. As cliched as it seems, Salinger seems to get the narration “just right” as opposed to the short stories. Whereas “Slight Rebellion…” is too removed and “I’m Crazy” is too involved, Catcher is a suitable in-between: while not entirely removed, Holden’s narrative still allows the reader to empathize. This reflects the simultaneous struggle Salinger would have faced with post-war trauma and the official