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Similarities between J.D. Salinger's Life and The Catcher in the Rye

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A wife witnessed her husband being murdered. A man bullied all throughout his life. An orphaned girl lost both parents to a car accident. Traumatic experiences, such as these, impact people in many ways. Author J.D. Salinger explores how one sixteen year old boy goes through many incidents that ultimately lead him to a mental breakdown. In his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist has close similarities with Salinger, who emphasizes the impact of psychological issues throughout the socially conservative 1950s. J.D. Salinger’s upbringing was not typical for a famous and noteworthy author. Jerome David (J.D.) Salinger was born on January 1, 1919, in New York, New York. Salinger, also known as “Sony,” was the youngest of two children …show more content…

Salinger. Salinger was the literary yearbook editor at Valley Forge Military Academy (Blackstock 2247). It is believed that Valley Forge Military Academy is the model for Pencey Prep, which is the school that Holden Caulfield was expelled from (“Catcher” 117). Moreover, Salinger and Caulfield both had education struggles. It is known that Salinger “... wasn’t much of a student. After flunking out of the McBurney School near his home… he was shipped off by his parents to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania (“J.D.,” Biography). Caulfield narrates that “... they [Pencey Prep] kicked me out… I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all” (Salinger 4). Additionally, Holden and Salinger both live or want to live a secluded lifestyle. For example, in the novel Holden regularly fantasizes about a solitary life and in this life he would be a self-sufficient deaf mute (Rollins 382). Salinger, however, did have a private lifestyle which was protected by his family, friends, and neighbors (“Catcher” 116). Another similarity would be, both the author and narrator have had influential teachers in their lives. Holden states that his teacher “... was about the best teacher I ever had, Mr. Antolini” (Salinger 174). He also looks to Mr. Antolini for shelter and guidance. Mr. Antolini gives Holden a lot of advice, especially about life (Rollins 383). Salinger …show more content…

Holden has so many courteous words to describe Allie. The impact of losing his brother seems to be very difficult for Holden. Salinger uses Allie’s death to show that cancer, primarily pediatric cancer, has a huge effect on the child’s family. Holden continues on stating that when he was thirteen “...they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (Salinger 38-39). Holden got to the point maybe because of anger issues and him not knowing how to cope with the death of his brother. Holden is very young when he loses his brother, which could be the reason he does not know how to deal with the situation correctly. Throughout the novel, Holden continues to think about Allie. For example, he wrote about him in a paper and he pleads to Allie in New York (Bennett 129). Psychoanalytic interpretations help readers to try and understand Holden’s psyche in order to figure out why Holden acts the way he does (Bennett 129). Looking at Caulfield’s childhood, which had a very traumatic event, could be the cause of his erratic behavior (Bennett 129). Even though there are many critics who believe Holden is “...negative, vulgar, whining, and cynical,” there are many other readers who believe there is more to Holden

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522 Words | 3 Pages

Ever since Allie died he has been a mess. He talks about how after Allie died, “[His parents] were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 39). He develops a negative outlook on life. This is the cause of Holden’s continuous downward spiral. He becomes more and more disturbed and eventually ends up in a mental institution.

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1439 Words | 6 Pages

Holden had a younger brother named Allie who “died of leukemia when he was eleven” (Salinger 38). Allie was a major factor in Holden’s life and development as a person in general. In a way, Allie is still alive in Holden and his actions, and Holden constantly thinks about him. When Holden felt that he was going to disappear whenever he crossed the street, he says, “Every time I came to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie.

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142 Words | 1 Pages

The postwar setting in J. D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye influenced the main character Holden Caulfield feelings of disillusionment during a time when conformity left many postwar adults fearing communism in a growing postwar economy. The novel illustrates the main characters’ experiences from the time he is expelled from boarding school over a period of three days. Upon his premature departure from the school, due to a fight with his roommate, Holden makes his way to New York City, where he meets various people in hopes of gaining a form of acceptance and understanding from them to help his troubles (Kirkwood 29). As a result, his needs are deprived, as Holden feels he does not fit anywhere; believing that all the people around him are

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499 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel The Cather In The Rye, J.D Salinger implies that Holden a troubled adolescent can’t seem to find his place in society due to the loss of his brother Allie. Losing Allie made Holden give up on school, caused him to pick up unhealthy habits like smoking, and led him to be upset at the world. Since the death of Allie, Holden began to see the world as hopeless and corrupt. Salinger develops this idea from a first person point of view. With the use of diction, J.D Salinger is able to portray Holden Caulfield as a troubled teen who is facing tribulations after the death of his brother.

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1493 Words | 6 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.

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636 Words | 3 Pages

J.D Salinger, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye demonstrates how Holden is affected by the tragic death of his brother Allie. Allie’s death is the root of Holden’s depression and negative choices. The first literary device J.D Salinger utilizes is Holden Caulfield's character. Allie's death at a young age may have resulted in Holden not wanting to grow up himself.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.

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303 Words | 2 Pages

His parents sent him to three different prep schools, all of which he had been kicked out of. Without a solid environment, Holden has been unable to make many friends in which he can find sympathy and comfort. This makes him become an introvert. “…I was standing way the hell up on top of Thompsen Hill…” (Salinger, Page 2). He finds it hard to relate to people because they don’t understand him or his circumstances.

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1022 Words | 5 Pages

In the beginning of the book Salinger reveals that Holdenś younger brother, who he was close

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the book, Holden is struggling to get by. The death of his brother Allie has left him in a tough spot. Holden doesn’t exactly know how to deal with this. The different stages of grief are represented through Holden. Holden shows denial and anger when he flashbacks to one of his memories after his brother’s death.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

J.D Salinger is most notably known for his coming of age novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, written in 1951, 6 years after world war 2 ended. His only novel takes place in the 1950s, about the same time as when the book was published, so view of how things were then were quite accurate for the time period. In the novel, it is shown that the main character’s sister, Phoebe,has a favorite movie,called the 39 steps. In real life, the author of the book says it is one of his favorite movies as well. With subtle love interests, comedic misunderstandings, and continuous action, It's not surprising that Salinger would show his love for the movie through the eyes of a naive child.

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666 Words | 3 Pages

Salinger was very greatful to his teacher, as he published a tribute to the man in Fiction Writers’ Hand-book in 1975. Something very interesting to point out is that the story and life of Holden Caulfield (main caracter of "The Catcher in the Rye") is very simillar to the author’s personal childhood. An example to that is the fact that Salinger was sent to a boys preparatory school (McBurney), just like Holden. Also, the school Sallinger attended later (Valley Forge Military Academy, in Wayne) served as an inspiration for Caulfield’s school, whereas the layout of the boy’s dorms in the story were simillar to the dorms in his school and the names of his coleagues were also used as a source of inspiration for Holden’s friends

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720 Words | 3 Pages

Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, embodies the classic teenager in the process of discovering himself, and how the world works. But, regardless of Holden 's rich, prep school lifestyle, the series of events that have mapped out his life up to this point have utterly affected his emotional well being and perception of the world. Many traumatic events such as the death of holds brother Allie, the death of a class mate, and countless numbers of awkward incidents with adults have all added up to affects Holden 's well-being and detach him from reality. The death of Holden 's younger brother Allie has caused him to confuse his perception of reality and to alienate himself.

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1035 Words | 5 Pages

From the outset, I have to say that “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger has been one of the most important and influential pieces of literature I have ever read. At its core, the book is a superb coming of age novel which discusses several extremely powerful themes such as the difficulties of growing up, teenage angst and alienation and the superficiality, hypocrisy and pretension of the adult world. These themes resonated deeply with me and were portrayed excellently through the use of powerful symbolism and the creation of highly relatable and likable characters. One such character is Holden Caulfield whom the story both revolves around and is narrated by.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Although Holden is a very intelligent character he finds the hypocrisy and ugliness in the world around him and quickly associates it with the adult world. Holden is a very introverted character who hesitates throughout the book to share information about his life . J.D Salinger makes sure to portray Holden that way to

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