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Catcher In The Rye Analysis Essay

821 Words4 Pages

Stefanie Galvez
Mrs. Kehrmeyer
AP English; Per. 1
08 March, 2017

Donald Hall, author of Literary and Cultural Theory, writes, “The unconscious part of the brain that interrupts the chronological sequence of events by interjection of scenes of life earlier in the protagonist or author’s life that take on central roles in the text” (103). Throughout the book, Holden seems to slip in and out of reality to get away from the isolation of what is actually happening in his life. Holden goes through many flashbacks and unconscious situations that relate to his current situation or what he is thinking about. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden imagines, “Then the crook probably would’ve given me this very phony, innocent look, and said, ‘I never saw …show more content…

In her article “The Duck Question Finally Answered,” Michelle Wittle says, “Holden wants to save people from the world. More specifically, Holden wants to save children from the world. This is evident when he is walking to get Phoebe at school and he sees the curse words on the school steps” (Wittle 1). As Holden went through the tough time of grieving Allie, his perspective changed on everyone and everything. He knew Allie as a child whom had done nothing wrong, and died of the unfair disease of leukemia. He doesn’t want any children to go through what Allie did and wanted to protect them from anything that could harm them physically and emotionally. In fact, the famous title of the book, The Catcher in the Rye, means to catch and save children from losing their innocence. One person who he will try to protect is his little sister, Phoebe, who is full of life and enthusiasm. She is an example of the children who still have their innocence. Donald Hall states in Literary and Cultural Theory, “Individuals move through developmental stages early in life, and traumas or experiences during that process may have a lasting effect on personality” (105). The incident that Holden and his family went through changed their actions. Holden’s childlike and immature personality stayed with him from the age that Allie died and his family became distant. Another topic that has to with

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