Catcher in the Rye Literary Analysis Essay Example
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The author and his times:
In 1919, Jerome David Salinger was born into this harsh harsh world, which he would criticize in his books to this day. Born to an Irish-Catholic mother and a wealthy Jewish father, young Jerome did not know what he was to be in life. His father pressured him greatly to become great and successful, causing great conflict between the two. His father wanted Jerome to take over the family meat and cheese packing/shipping business, but Jerome hated it, and did not desire to become rich or anything of that nature. Like Holden Caulfield from his book The Catcher in the Rye, young Jerome found it difficult to concentrate on school and studies and was eventually sent to a military school by his father. This going to military school is reflected in the part of the book in which Holden is back at home explaining to Pheobe that he will not be killed, by his father, and that he would probably just be sent to military school. After military school, Jerome attended Ursinus College, Columbia University, and New York University. He was soon drafted into the infantry division during WWII. Salinger saw some of the most gruesome battles of the war, including the Battle Normandy and the ultimately useless blood bath, which occurred in Hürtgenwald. The horrors of war that Salinger witnessed traumatized him to the point where he was sent home because he received a Section 8. The horrors that he witnessed were so great, he never talks about it to anyone, and never wrote about it either. His first mental breakdown, as well as other smaller breakdowns caused by the trauma of war, is similar to the gradual mental breakdown of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, who eventually finds himself in a mental institution.(http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/salinger.htm).
Main characters:
Holden Caulfield- Holden Caulfield is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Holden's biggest pet peeve is that he hates
The author and his times:
In 1919, Jerome David Salinger was born into this harsh harsh world, which he would criticize in his books to this day. Born to an Irish-Catholic mother and a wealthy Jewish father, young Jerome did not know what he was to be in life. His father pressured him greatly to become great and successful, causing great conflict between the two. His father wanted Jerome to take over the family meat and cheese packing/shipping business, but Jerome hated it, and did not desire to become rich or anything of that nature. Like Holden Caulfield from his book The Catcher in the Rye, young Jerome found it difficult to concentrate on school and studies and was eventually sent to a military school by his father. This going to military school is reflected in the part of the book in which Holden is back at home explaining to Pheobe that he will not be killed, by his father, and that he would probably just be sent to military school. After military school, Jerome attended Ursinus College, Columbia University, and New York University. He was soon drafted into the infantry division during WWII. Salinger saw some of the most gruesome battles of the war, including the Battle Normandy and the ultimately useless blood bath, which occurred in Hürtgenwald. The horrors of war that Salinger witnessed traumatized him to the point where he was sent home because he received a Section 8. The horrors that he witnessed were so great, he never talks about it to anyone, and never wrote about it either. His first mental breakdown, as well as other smaller breakdowns caused by the trauma of war, is similar to the gradual mental breakdown of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, who eventually finds himself in a mental institution.(http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/salinger.htm).
Main characters:
Holden Caulfield- Holden Caulfield is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Holden's biggest pet peeve is that he hates