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Dialectical Journal For The Catcher In The Rye

1340 Words6 Pages

1. Title- The title refers to the misinterpretation by Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, of the poem “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye”. Holden Caulfield mistakes the line “if a body meet a body” to his understanding as “if a body catch a body”. Caulfield pictures children playing in a rye field near a cliff and his dream job would be catching them before they fall off.

2. Time Period- The novel is set in the early 1950s just after World War II had concluded, depicting a state of social unrest. At that time in US history, social codes and conducts pressured teenage conformity that Holden Caulfield didn’t want to fit into.

3. Purpose- The purpose is e. from the AP Survival Packet, which states “Authors’ thinking often runs counter to their own cultural training”. A biography of J.D. Salinger stated that he …show more content…

Universal Truth- the universal truth was a quote by Mr. Antolini saying “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” (Chapter 24 page 244). This quote means that it could be easier to run away from trials, but to truly overcome a tough circumstance hard work and sacrifice needs to be given. For Holden to show he has matured as a man he needs to face his battles with full intent.

7. Symbol- Holden’s red hunting hat is a symbol of Holden’s uniqueness and difference from the others in the book. It is also the same color as his sister Phoebe’s hair and his friend Allie’s hair which could help connect the important people in his life. Holden never wears the hat when he is around people he knows giving the reader insight that when he wears the hat he feels the need for his isolation.

8. Imagery- Salinger uses visual imagery to paint a picture in the reader’s mind of each moment in Holden’s life. Since the story is in perspective of Holden himself, it only makes sense that the narrator is trying to explain each detail of every event that crossed his

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Theme: Individuality 1. “... I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.”

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J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is the story of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield’s struggle to connect with people after losing his brother several years before. Salinger uses the red hunting cap to represent how Holden protects himself in The Catcher in the Rye. At the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden uses his red hunting cap as a form of protection from those who cannot understand him and what he has been through. Right after his fight with Stradlater over the composition, Holden says, "I couldn't find my goddam hunting hat anywhere.

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B. Holden’s hat’s color represents his purity and innocence. The color of his hat, red, is the same as the color of Allie and Phoebe’s hair. III. Painfulness of growing up A. Throughout the book, the Catcher in the Rye, Holden

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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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“The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Mr.Antolini gives that advice to Holden hoping it would change the mindset about life to Holden. The quote has a purpose to portray that a mature man will understand that he can benefit a cause by being alive and living his life for the cause whereas the immature man dies for a cause and the death wont benefit the cause. People can do more by staying alive than being dead.

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Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short, stems from many different events that has impacted a person's life. In the The Catcher in the Rye, By J.D. Salinger, the main character is a troublesome teen boy named Holden Caulfield. He tells the story in a rehab where he has been sent to get therapeutic help. We learn early on that Holden cares very little about things and doesn’t apply himself, which is why he gets kicked out of his private school. From the way he presents himself I gathered that something terrible must have happened to him, especially since he will not talk about his early childhood.

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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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After being kicked out of Pencey Prep, Holden decides to spend three days alone in New York before returning home to his family for Christmas break. While looking back into the past to narrate his life, at many times, Holden describes himself as feeling very depressed and lonely. As Holden roams the streets, he notices a young boy and points out by mentioning “He kept on walking next to the curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed anymore” (Salinger, 115).

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His internal battles and the friction occurring between him and the people around him causes Salinger’s character to exist in a spectrum between being overpoweringly relatable and clearly fictitious. Holden Caulfield is in a constant fight against what is expected from him. His chaos is exposed and the reader is led by his uncensored thoughts. Consequently, Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a genuine

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In „The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Sallinger, the title of the book has a great meaning, while also being a very important symbol, that helps to understand Holden Caulfield, the main character of the book. The title is taken from a song „Comin’ Thro’ the Rye ”, that Holden refers to while thinking about his future dream job. The song, „Comin’ Thro’ the Rye ” is first brought up, when Holden remembers its lyrics that he misheard a long time ago, which was what he based his fantasy, of catching little children from falling from a ciff, -on. "I thought it was 'If a body catch a body, '" I said.

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Salinger used many literary techniques in order to tell his story. The most prominent literary device is the allusion in the title. The title “The Catcher in the Rye” is an allusion to the poem, of the same name by Robert Burns and the first verse which Holden, upon hearing a little boy sing it, thinks is “if a body catch a body coming through the rye” (Salinger 117). This later on points to the theme of the novel and how Holden wants to be the Catcher in the Rye, preventing other children from falling down the cliff and facing adulthood. The second literary technique is the flashback.

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REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS: YOU NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THE QUOATION WITH YOUR RESPONSE. (-) 4. In J.D. Salinger 's novel "Catcher in the Rye", the protagonist Holden Caulfield says these lines to his younger sister Phoebe when she questions him on the topic of his likes and what he wishes to do when he is an adult. Holden ideally, but unrealistically states that he wants to be "the catcher in the rye and all", a reliable figure to "catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. " Holden describes his desire to be someone constantly watching over children and his way of catching them is to keep them save from any physical danger as they are playing baseball and having fun.

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He sees himself as the useless member of the family, and states that he’s “the only dumb one in the family” (67). The most heartbreaking cause of Holden’s loneliness is the death of his young brother, Allie, to leukemia. The brothers’ connection is shown through the symbol of Allie’s red hair, which Holden could have a “hunch” for even if Allie was sitting “a hundred and fifty yards” away (38). The cut of a bond this deep devastates Holden. Unfortunately, because of his inactive parents, he deals with it through anger and isolation that is symbolized by the red hunting hat he wears.

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The story is told over three day period as Holden wonders the streets New York avoiding going home to tell his parents he has been kicked out of school. He later visits his old teacher, Mr Spencer, who tries to get him in order to no avail. His rebellious spirit leads him to wander alone in New York. Holden is a personification of Camus definition of a rebel; he turning around his hunting hat is a symbolical gesture of refusal to submit to societal values and norms. His dislike for phony’s, a

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