Holden Informal Language

Among the major hallmarks of The Catcher in the Rye is J. D. Salinger’s use of mid-twentieth-century slang and colloquial speech. Indeed, the language of the novel is one of the reasons critics considered the novel groundbreaking and controversial upon its initial publication. Salinger’s use of informal language also contributed to the novel’s popularity among a wide readership, who could recognize the voices and speech patterns in Holden’s narrative. Not only does Holden’s language make it easier for readers to identify with him; but his speech is also centrally important to the meaning of the novel as a whole. Holden’s colloquial speech signals the kind of youthful authenticity he strives to project (and protect) throughout the novel. It’s also worth noting that the motif of the catcher in the rye comes from a

In Stowe’s novel, for instance, the various characters speak different dialects. Stowe uses these dialects both to differentiate between characters and to draw links between others, sometimes across lines of race and class. Salinger’s use of class-based dialects in The Catcher in the Rye serves a similar purpose; for Holden, the speech of more educated characters strikes him as phony, whereas he finds the dialects of lower-class characters more down-to-earth and sincere. Perhaps even more relevant to Salinger’s novel is Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, which is also narrated from the first-person perspective of a young man. Like The Catcher in the Rye, Twain’s novel includes a lot of slang, many colloquialisms, and other informalities. Twain uses such informalities to create a realistic portrayal of the speech of his time, which is precisely what Salinger does in his