J. D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye

The plot structure that J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye uses is a flashback plot structure because the entire novel is the main character, Holden Caulfield, narrating about how he ended up in a mental institution. A flashback plot structure is a type of plot structure in which past events are recollected to explain a future event. This plot structure helps the author emphasize the theme of the story, it can help with explaining the motives of a character, and it can deepen the inner conflict of a character within the story. In the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, we learn that Holden had a nervous breakdown sometime in the future, and he explains how it occurred over a period of three days many months ago. With the flashback plot, knowing what we know about Holden’s

While this plot structure is very practical and essential, another way that the novel could have been written could be in a dramatic or progressive plot. This alternate plot structure would work because the story can progress more and more until Holden’s eventual breakdown and mental hospitalization. One reason why this alternative would be effective is that it could foreshadow future events and still show Holden’s character development. With a dramatic or progressive plot structure, the climax is more intense because the story can progress without the reader expecting it. In flashback structure, readers may get an idea of what will happen throughout the story because they already know what will happen in the future. On the other hand, in a dramatic or progressive plot structure, the story can foreshadow future events, yet the reader can still be surprised by the outcome of the novel. Although changing the plot structure can impact The Catcher in the Rye, I find the flashback plot structure to be more