Catcher In The Rye Analysis

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The novel, “Catcher in the Rye”, was written by J.D. Salinger. Even though he wrote numerous novels, people regard this one as one of his best. The main character Holden Caulfield throughout the plot is on a progression of heading to ultimately a mental breakdown. Which is inferred more as the novel continues. Holden’s peregrination to a mental breakdown conveys how the moral ideals that are taught to kids become lost to the hypocrisy of adulthood by the deterioration of innocence and the artificial facade of society.
To not seem “phony”, a recurring word in the novel, J.D. Salinger utilizes repetitive dialogue for the main character Holden Caulfield, to show how desperately Holden doesn’t want to seem insincere and fake. He believes that of all of his prep schools he has been too were all “full of phonies” (Catcher in the rye, page 2). They are were trying to appear better than they were, because that is what they grew up seeing society around them doing. Which is what makes Catcher in the rye applicable to any time period, because there will always continue to be some hint of artificialness in the societal ways. Holden even goes as far to appear as candid to add “it really is” or “it really did” when he talks to appear as sincere as he could. His waying of talking paints a picture of the dialect of teenagers of that time.
The novel contains multiple metaphors, one being Holden’s red hunting hat. His red hunting hat is a metaphor for repression. For example this is