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.…
Two books written by J.D. Salinger, known for his “Catcher in the Rye”, proposes two alternative thinking towards the defiance against society and its current state of “accepted” reality. Below you’ll find a short comparison of the similarities and differences of the characters Seymour Glass, a war veteran, and The Misfit, an escaped convict.…
Whether it be the bards that soaked up the noise and appeased the doldrums of ancient life, or the juggernauts and giants whose etchings are in cave clay walls, there has been a myriad of means in which humans convey quests and narratives. Although, these mediums may drastically there are countless fundamental traits that withstand in the dynamic realm of literature. J.D Salinger’s realistic fiction novel Catcher in the Rye follows the titular character Holden Caulfield and his inevitable fall from sanity. Holden is an adolescent who was recently kicked out of Pencey Prep, an elite private school, as a result of his inability to apply himself. Instead of going back home on the wealthiest side of New York City, he explores the underbelly of…
Ever since its publication in 1951, the quality of J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, has been a controversy. The story has been praised for its enlightening views on society, but criticized for its use of slang and sexual content. Nevertheless, the story is worth both reading and teaching, for the story still relates to the lives of today’s teenagers, introduces a unique writing style to its readers, and teaches its readers an important lesson about phoniness. Throughout the novel, the main character, Holden Caulfield, attempts to catch innocent children before they fall off the cliff and die or before they lose their innocence and become a corrupt and phony adult. While doing so, he suffers isolation…
The 21st Century is an era well known for teenagers whose parents beg them to get off their phones and people who worry about the Kardashians more than they should. The question arises as to how can a novel from the 1940’s, like “Catcher in the Rye”, still be relevant to today’s society? For instance, this book takes place during an era where people did not rely on their phones and did not even know who the Kardashians were, but believe it or not, “Catcher in the Rye” in many ways is still relevant and worth reading. There are many differences between the novel’s society and today's society, but despite the differences, there are an incredible amount of similarities between Holden and 21st century teenagers.…
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.…
In The Catcher in the Rye and The Fosters, we are introduced to two of the most diverse and similar of all time. Many different aspects of the two characters are portrayed throughout the book and the show proving the conclusion made earlier on how they were diverse yet similar. For instance, Holden and Callie were similar in their love to their younger siblings, the fact that it was hard for them to accept help from others, and how they would react suddenly and with anger.…
Similar observations are made by academic writer and author Sarah Graham in her book entitled Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In this book, Graham addresses a variety of reading techniques, themes, and comparisons/contrasts in regards to Salinger’s most popular novel, but she specifically addresses the main theme of Holden’s attempt to escape the phony 1950’s materialistic focused society surrounding him. Graham begins her take on this theme of escaping society with a chapter on Holden’s rebellion: “Developing the theme of rebellion, Holden’s visit to Mr. Spencer confirms that he is opposed to the conventional ideas that school and society encourage in order to promote stability” (34). During this visit to Mr. Spencer’s house that Graham…
Catcher in the Rye: New Essays. Ed. J. P. Steed. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. 33-52. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 243. Detroit:…
The title, The Catcher in the Rye, directly indicates the reoccurring theme of the novel, to protect the innocence of the younger generations. The novel is structured on Holden’s desire to protect all the innocent children in the world from growing up because with age comes experiences that lead to corruption and the loss of innocence.…
The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is a reflection of his own life being shown through a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield. Like Salinger in the novel Holden jumps from prep school to prep school not finishing each time, however excels in English classes. Holden’s life in the novel shook the nation with controversy and curiosity. Illustrated in the text it conveys extreme depression, sexual tension, love, and lewd language. Holden attempts to see the “phony” world through a new light, however fails due to the type of person he is, his troubled background, sexual confusion, family issues, and fallacious world we all live in.…
Salinger demonstrates that Holden’s refusal to grow up and his individualistic attitude towards life, proves to be directly against the uniform society and established institutions during the 1950’s. In addition to Holden’s adversity with a mental illness, prep school social hierarchy, strict teachers and a city of corruption and decay, Holden is seen as an anti-hero. Due to interactions with other characters, Salinger paints the reader an unflattering picture of postwar America while showing how different social institutions follow one mainstream value. In all the 1950’s gave way to the counter-cultural movement that flourished in the 1960, making Catcher in the Rye the begin of the snowball…
In the following pages of this essay, background information about culture and feelings of the time in which the novel took place will be provided along with a brief summary of the life of the author of The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger. This essay will then provide the reader with a short summary of the novel The Catcher in the Rye. In conclusion, this essay will analyze Holden’s struggle of putting away his disillusionments and facing the fact that innocence cannot be protected forever to suggest that growing up is an inescapable part of life. J. D. Salinger portrays growing up and losing one’s innocence as a pain in the…
Adolescence can be an exciting and new experience. But for some, it becomes a difficult period of no escape. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel about adolescence and the struggle of personal growth, told from the eyes of a cloudy and cynical teenager named Holden Caulfield. A narrow and simple-minded narrative point of view demonstrates the lack of connection a character has to the setting. Symbolism in The Catcher in the Rye exhibits the difficulties of personal growth. Ambiguous character growth testifies to the difficulty of personal growth. The Catcher in the Rye exemplifies the lesson that personal growth is a very demanding process, through the literary elements of narrative point of view, symbolism and character development.…
D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is a brutal reflection upon society, guilt, mortality, sexuality, deceit, and depression, all among adolescents. Holden’s exploration of his society and molding of his own, “bleak moral climate that destroys the soul,” relates to all teenagers on one level or another. Salinger is the author of one of the first novels to ever explore adolescence from such a raw perspective. Times change, but people…