Andrew Geib
A.P U.S History
September 5th, 2013
Ms. Im
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, follows the story of Holden Caulfield, who serves the role of protagonist and narrator. Holden tells the story of his younger sixteen year old self, whilst under treatment in a sanatorium. As a teenager, Holden was a rebel feeling the need to not care, or try hard in anything he does, thus “getting the ax” out of three schools, and soon to be his fourth. His latest school is a prep school, titled Pencey, is located in the rural town of Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Failing three of his four classes there, all but English, Holden is to get out on Christmas leave on Wednesday; however after a fight with his roommate ensues, inciting him to collect his money, and hit the road for New York early. His parent’s apartment is located in Manhattan, so he decides to take a taxi there. Holden has quite the journey in New York from his arrival on Sunday, to Wednesday, when he is actually scheduled to go home. His journey includes the reunion of fellow friends, of him and his brother, teachers, and past crushes. Holden is one of four siblings, including two brothers and a sister. His sister, one of his closest siblings, is a ten year old girl named Phoebe. Her character is that of a very sweet and caring girl, but also very intelligent for her age. She is one of Holden’s only sources of happiness during the narration of the book. Allie was Holden’s younger brother, who tragically died of leukemia when Holden was only thirteen. Holden refers to Allie quite often, and even quite occasionally asks for his help, he also carries a glove of Allie’s favorite poems on it.
D.B. is Holden’s only older sibling, who is big into writing short stories. However, D.B. moved to Hollywood and mainly relies on prostitution to get by. Ackley and Stradlater are Holden’s dimwitted roommates, while at Pencey Prep. Holden also meets up with a variety of other acquaintances during his adventure including, Mr. Spencer, Carl Luce, Mr. Antolini, Maurice, and Sunny. J.D. Salinger joined the army and fought in Europe during World War 2, after his safe arrival in 1946, he started writing novels. The Catcher in the Rye was written in the 1946 during post World War 2, however it wasn’t later published until 1951. The novel features many of Salinger’s past life experiences. He portrayed his mistakes in his novel to help others and lead them down the right path, as opposed to the rough and treacherous path that he took. Growing up in New York, he lived in a luxurious house in Manhattan, Salinger bounced from prep school to prep school, until finally in 1934 when he was enrolled in the Valley Forge Military Academy and graduated two years later in 1936.
The Catcher in the Rye had a tremendous impact on the teenage way of life in mid-20th century. The book taught, and in many eyes, introduced the thought of teenage rebellion and doing whatever one pleased. It questioned societal expectations and made an impact on the way people looked at growing up, stirring a lot of controversy in the process. Many believe that the ideal of this book influenced Mark Chapman to
Explore the different ways in which madness and loneliness are explained through the use of narrative voice in The Catcher in the Rye and American Psycho. Both Ellis and Salinger use first person narratives. The Catcher in the Rye was set in the late 1940s as opposed to American Psycho which is set in the late 1980s. These different contexts provide very different lifestyles and social pressures for both protagonist’s however, both writers focus on the effects of materialism and prodigality and the…
Tom, Caitlin Freeland – Block 8 10/23/14 Understanding and Uncertainty Knowledge is best obtained through experience. This is shown in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye , a young adult novel about a boy named Holden Caulfield in New York, who is surrounded by social and academic pressures and wants to be different from everyone else. Through analyzing Holden’s encounters and mindset, it is revealed that the book supports the argument that Holden or any other teenager has conflicts with society and struggle to grow up…
Catcher In The Rye Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, reveals the hardships that teenagers endure as they mature and enter adulthood. Holden Caulfield, the narrator, tells the story of his hardships. Any teenager’s mind can lose focus, especially in Holden’s case. Holden has many issues that lead to the root of his problems. Holden has been kicked out of several schools and endures many more issues. He suffers from the loss of a loved one, financial issues, and parental neglect. These three root…
The Catcher in the Rye In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents childhood as a stressful turn table of mixed emotions. The intense moments of Holden’s life (like in chapter one at the football game, where Holden feels excluded from his entire school as he glares down at everyone in the stadium) are amazing representations of childhood at a glance. Most teenagers go through hell during high school, and Holden Caulfield is a prime example of that. This book was interesting because of Salinger’s…
In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is clearly unhappy with his surroundings, which is evident not just by the fact that he is telling his story from some sort of mental hospital, but also by the fact that he seems to find something to dislike in everyone he is around. Whether it’s his roommate Stradlater’s self-obsession, or his neighbor Ackley’s lack of personal hygiene, Holden seems to find something wrong with everyone. From 3 unintelligent girls…
The Catcher in the Rye “The Catcher in the Rye,” a novel by J.D. Salinger introduces love, loneliness, loss of innocence, and the struggles of becoming an adult through a teenage eye. Holden is a very unpredictable character that looks at life with more detail than most. He shows sensitivity with sly symbols throughout the novel and proves his innocent misfit in the world. These symbols teach small and big lessons of life. “The Catcher in the Rye” should not be censored because of its beneficial…
The Catcher in the Rye In “The Catcher in The Rye”, author J.D Salinger uses a plethora of meaningful symbols that help main character, Holden Caufield, find his true purpose in a world full of phonies. A symbol is something significant that represents something else. Symbols are used everyday in our world whether we know it or not. There are three really important symbols in the book that are connected to a greater aspect in Holden’s life. The second most important symbol in Holden’s…
Catcher In The Rye Literary Paragraph What makes a good character? Depth, a relatable personality, development… All are good things to include when designing a character, no matter how big or small. Many background characters remain flat, drifting in and out of the story, but major characters tend to undergo some sort of revelation or hardship that allows them to change, typically for the better. Holden, the main character of Catcher in the Rye has few, if any, of these traits, which makes him…
Koby Hinnant Leiknes 1 January 13, 2013 Holden Caulfield: Smart or Stupid? Many people, after reading The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, may think that Holden Caulfield is not a very bright person. They may be right in thinking that, but the author was trying to show throughout the book that he actually was very intelligent, just maybe not scholarly way. This novel gives investigates the ideas of many different themes to help show what life was like for Holden Caulfield over the period of…
The Catcher in the Rye “Is The Catcher in the Rye, as a work of literature still relevant for today’s youth?” Name: Sara Sigurdson Course: English A1 Supervisor: Mr. Peter Steadman Word count: 3851 Candidate number: 00136022 Table of Contents Content Page Number Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Actual Catcher in the Rye 4 The Sexual Matter 5 The Caulfield Family 6 Narrator and Protagonist 8 Role Model 9 Mr. Antolini 10 Targeted Audience 10 Guidance 12…