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Catcher In The Rye Response Essay

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Recommended: Analyzing characters from the catcher in the rye

The Catcher in the Rye is, for lack of a better word, a controversial novel that remains so almost seventy years after it was penned down. Written from late 1940s to early 1950s, this post World War II novel constituted the only solitary work in the infamous oeuvre of J. D. Salinger. The specialty of this work is that it reflects the real life and personality of the author himself, and we can hope to understand him by following the protagonist. Another marked aspect of this novel is that it renders very polarizing thoughts in the minds of the readers, implying that they either hate the constant ranting of the protagonist, or inculcate the world views within their own personalities by the time they are done with the novel. To start things off, the plot of the novel is a very monotonic one. The novel is devoid of any climax, or the climax takes place behind the scenes at the end, oblivious to the reader. It shows repetitive instances of the protagonist, Holden …show more content…

D. Salinger, the author, manifests his own life at various points within the novel. He also shifted through various colleges, throughout his studying life, due to some reason or the other. He once went attended Columbia University, the school where Carl Luce is from. Salinger himself was once enrolled in McBurney School in Manhattan, the intended site of the novel's canceled fencing meet. In addition, scholars often compare Pencey Prep to Valley Forge Military Academy, which Salinger attended from the ages of 15 to 17. He has also said various times to the press that his best friends include mostly children, and he is best able to connect to them, same as Holden. This was why he was very offended when his book was banned in some areas for children. Salinger also went into reclusion after 1960s, once his short stories started getting critically riled. This further led to the popularity of this novel, since Holden also connects to nobody and lands up in

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In every novel around the globe you can find carefully constructed paragraphs, written by the author to send a specific message to the readers. In The catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, one particular section overflows with symbolism, metaphors, and hidden messages. By analyzing the passage’s diction, setting, and selection of detail it is possible discern the less overt statements hidden in the text and reveal the turbulent nature of the main character, Holden Caulfield. The diction of this passage appears to be the key in unraveling Holden’s mood swings.

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As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.

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The book The Catcher in the Rye is a story of internal conflicts and the shallowness of adulthood. The main character, Holden, is struggling to maintain his strong voice of innocence in a fight only involving himself. One of the many reasons for Holden’s emotional devastation is the death of his younger brother Allie. Allie passed away three years earlier from leukemia and this of course highly affected Holden’s mental state at the time even if he didn’t know it. Salinger’s tone held the most importance of this book.

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Salinger writes, “They don’t do any damn more molding at Pencey than they do at at any other school. And I didn’t know anybody there that was splendid and clear-thinking and all. Maybe two guys. If that many. And they probably came to Pencey that way” (2).

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“A garbled echo returned to her. A final surge of fury shook her and she roared, ‘Who do you think you are?’” (O’Connor 33) This line is from Revelation when Mrs. Turpin was talking to a person that judged her, little did she know this person was jesus. Flannery O’Connor is trying to show that people often put themselves before others without ever wanting or letting themselves and others judge them.

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If the book is read solely on its surface level, it just seems like a book about an annoying teenager who just complains about everything, but the messages it carries are actually profound. For example, near the end of the story Holden is upset by some profane graffiti on the wall at a museum that says “F*** you” (Salinger 224). He is upset by it because he is worried some little kids will see it and wonder what it means, and then be curious enough to find out adn have their innocence stolen. He finds the graffiti multiple times in the museum. The profane graffiti, if looked at beyond the surface level, symbolises the fact that Holden can not do anything to stop little kids from losing their innocence.

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Salinger Biography”). After his family moved to New York’s Upper West Side, Salinger flunked out of the McBurney School, a private school, before being shipped off to face discipline at the Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, where the voice of his character, Holden Caulfield, began to emerge (“J.D. Salinger Doesn’t Want to Talk). Similarly in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield flunked out of Whooton School, Elkton Hills, and Pencey due to lack of applying himself and the “phoniness” of the school communities. During a meeting with his former history teacher, Mr. Spencer, regarding his future, Holden says, “Well...they’ll be pretty irritated about it, they really will. This is about the fourth school I’ve gone to” (11).

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Salinger’s attitude showed how Holden didn’t want to be part of what people did in society. It also showed how people around him kept alienating him. Holden first points out his feelings of alienation from friends and school society by referring to the fact that he is alone at during the football game because he misplaced the fencing team foils on the subway right before a competition: "The whole team ostracized me the whole way back on the train" (3). Next, Holden explains his feelings of alienation from family because he is getting kicked out of another school. He does not want to face his family when they first get the news because "My mother gets very hysterical" (51).

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Salinger was one of two children. Despite his intelligence, Salinger wasn’t looked at as a student. In the wake of failing out of the McBurney School close to his home in New York's Upper West Side, he was sent off by his father to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania(Writes). Shortly after graduating Valley Forge, Salinger came back home one year to go

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Pencey Prep from The Catcher in the Rye was derived from J.D.'s time at Valley Forge. While in his senior year at Valley Forge, J.D. was the literary editor for his class yearbook and decided he wanted to

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In the beginning of the novel Salinger portrays Holden as a antisocial person who is often seen alone and describes the world as a “ world full of phonies” one example of this is at the beginning of the book wherein the

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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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In this novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is the narrator that goes through a variety of problems. He has dilemmas, but meets/reconnects with people on his quest of life. This novel is more than just a simple story about a protagonist and his life events. This novel follows the structure of bildungsroman. There are four parts to it- character’s growth in social structure, a form of loss, process of maturity, and if the character ends in a new place of society.

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