Catcher In The Rye Essay Questions

The novel the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is told from the point of view of Holden Caulfield. J.D. Salinger was a soldier in World War II who took part in D-Day when the allied forces stormed the French coast of Normandy. He wrote this book shortly after the War The protagonist Holden has trouble fitting into society. He views most people as phony without much reasoning and he always lies to cover up his real identity. When asked by his roommate Stradlater to write an english composition about a room, Holden instead writes about his younger brother Allie’s baseball glove. He says that Allie would write poems with green ink on his glove and read them so he would not get bored. Allie is described as having red hair being left handed and …show more content…
For example, when being driven around New York City he tries to befriend taxi drivers. On page 60 he asks the taxi driver a question, “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen” Instead of responding to the question, the driver states, “What’re ya trying to do, bud?...Kid me?” His response indicates that he did not feel like engaging in conversation with Holden. Holden also mentions the idea for the driver to get a cocktail with him and Holden says he will pay for it. In response to this the driver says that he can’t do it. Holden poses this same question to another taxi driver named Horwitz. Although a different person Holden gets the same outcome. Horwitz responds “How should I know a stupid thing like that.” Another relationship that Holden tries to build is with Jane Gallagher. Jane was Holden’s childhood friend, They would play checkers and tennis together. However, there was a period of time when they did not speak to each other. Jane ends up going on a date with Holden’s roommate Stradlater. After not seeing her for a long time Holden really wants to speak with her again. He ends up not speaking to her. Through the novel anytime he is near a phone booth he feels like calling Jane. Whether it be Jane not answering or Jane’s mother picking up or even Holden changing his mind, he never does speak to Jane again in the novel. An important fact to remember is that Holden did not tell anyone outside his family about the passing of Allie, with the exception of Jane. If Jane was at one point so close to Holden that he informs her about Allie, why can’t Holden channel his emotions and communicate to Jane again. It is clear that Holden’s grief of Allie’s death, builds up and disables him from connecting with