Question 1
In The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, there is the first person narrative given my Holden Caulfield. We will discuss what his narration reveals about the Holden and his character as well as whether we can trust his narrative. Salinger also uses the settings in which the Holden finds himself, and the symbolism of the ducks and fish in the lagoon to illustrate Holden’s feelings of loss and isolation. The setting I have chosen to consider in terms of his isolation which is often caused by a fear of change, The symbolism was explored in terms of how Salinger uses the symbolism to highlight Holden’s grief at the loss of his younger brother Allie.
The first person narrative reveals to us how the character Holden Caulfield …show more content…
These were the years of social conformity in America. Salinger also used this setting; this being the 1950’s to show how isolated he feels. According to the University of Groningen, during the 1950’s a sense of conformity spread across America, with both old and young conforming to social conventions and the traditional roles for both genders were reinstituted. (Computing, 1994-2012). Holden cannot see himself being a lawyer like his father and being placed in the role of successful breadwinner. He like most teenagers does not want to conform and this may be one of the reasons why he refuses to try in school. This lack of Holden’s desire to conform to the social roles he would be expected to fill is seen in his statement on page 93 chapter 12 “All those Ivy-league bastards look alike. My father wants me to go to Yale, or maybe Princeton, but I swear, I wouldn’t go to one of those Ivy-League colleges if I was dying, for God’s sake.” (Salinger, 1958) The statement also shows his isolation because he does not want to conform and so will be almost be separated from those around him
Also related to the discussion of setting is the fact that Holden enjoys the museum because it does not change as illustrated by the quote on page 131 chapter 16 “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (Salinger, 1958) “The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger, 1958)He is scared to change so he, therefore, isolates
In The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, there is the first person narrative given my Holden Caulfield. We will discuss what his narration reveals about the Holden and his character as well as whether we can trust his narrative. Salinger also uses the settings in which the Holden finds himself, and the symbolism of the ducks and fish in the lagoon to illustrate Holden’s feelings of loss and isolation. The setting I have chosen to consider in terms of his isolation which is often caused by a fear of change, The symbolism was explored in terms of how Salinger uses the symbolism to highlight Holden’s grief at the loss of his younger brother Allie.
The first person narrative reveals to us how the character Holden Caulfield …show more content…
These were the years of social conformity in America. Salinger also used this setting; this being the 1950’s to show how isolated he feels. According to the University of Groningen, during the 1950’s a sense of conformity spread across America, with both old and young conforming to social conventions and the traditional roles for both genders were reinstituted. (Computing, 1994-2012). Holden cannot see himself being a lawyer like his father and being placed in the role of successful breadwinner. He like most teenagers does not want to conform and this may be one of the reasons why he refuses to try in school. This lack of Holden’s desire to conform to the social roles he would be expected to fill is seen in his statement on page 93 chapter 12 “All those Ivy-league bastards look alike. My father wants me to go to Yale, or maybe Princeton, but I swear, I wouldn’t go to one of those Ivy-League colleges if I was dying, for God’s sake.” (Salinger, 1958) The statement also shows his isolation because he does not want to conform and so will be almost be separated from those around him
Also related to the discussion of setting is the fact that Holden enjoys the museum because it does not change as illustrated by the quote on page 131 chapter 16 “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (Salinger, 1958) “The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger, 1958)He is scared to change so he, therefore, isolates