The Characteristics Of Symbolism In The Catcher In The Rye

Great Essays
The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel because of its complexity and characters that reveal certain facets of the antagonist Holden Caulfield’s character. Students should read this novel for an example of a seemingly simple book with many examples of symbolism throughout the novel. Also, The Catcher in the Rye is set in post-WW II America, a very important time in America’s history because of its vast economic growth and advances. This book should be read by high school students, as it does have some mature topics and language. Holden met many interesting characters on his journey through New York City to get home. When Holden took the train to get to New York City, he met Mrs. Morrow, Ernest Morrow’s mother. He knew Ernest from one of …show more content…
It isn’t clear exactly where Holden is narrating the story from, but the reader can assume he is in some kind of mental hospital after Holden saying he was interviewed by a psychoanalyst. The novel starts out at Pencey Prep, where Holden is flunking out of four of the five classes he is taking. Holden was told by the headmaster Dr. Thurmer that he was being expelled for his less than stellar performance at the school. Holden goes to his history teacher Mr. Spencer’s house to say goodbye. Mr. Spencer told Holden to be careful about the decisions he made about his future, as someday he will be concerned about them. But, Holden doesn’t take this advice to heart and is just somewhat annoyed by it. Later, in his dorm room, Holden finds out that his roommate, Stradlater, is going out on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl Holden used to date and still has some feelings for. As the evening goes on, Holden gets more and more anxious about what Stradlater was doing with Jane. When Stradlater returns, Holden quizzes him on what they did exactly on their date. Stradlater teases Holden, and things escalate quickly. Worse comes to worse, and pretty soon the boys get in a full fledged fight, leaving Holden with a bloody nose. After a short talk with Ackley, a very unhygienic boy who also goes to Pencey, Holden decides that he’s done …show more content…
D. Salinger is part of the pantheon of important authors because of his many well-known works. J. D. Salinger was born Jerome David Salinger on January 1, 1919 in New York, NY. He was raised in Manhattan and was the second of two children of Sol and Miriam Salinger. His father was a prosperous Jewish merchant and his mother was Scots-Irish. Like Holden, he was expelled from several private preparatory schools before going to Valley Forge Military School and graduated two years later. However, there is little known about Salinger’s upbringing other than he grew up in a wealthy family. Some of Salinger’s works other than The Catcher in the Rye include Nine Stories (1953), Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963), and Franny and Zooey (1961). He started out writing short stories in magazines, including Slight Rebellion Off Madison in 1946 for the New Yorker magazine. It was later rewritten and made part of The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Salinger later became one of the top contributors to New Yorker. When The Catcher in the Rye was first released, it created much controversy. The novel was highly praised by many and strongly disliked by others for its language and social criticism. After releasing The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger grew reclusive and is still known today for his reclusive behavior. He began to publish new work less frequently and gave his last public interview in 1980 to avoid public attention. Margaret A. Salinger, Salinger’s

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Holden realizes and learns from his journey alone through New York, “If you want to know the truth, I don’t know what I think about it. I’m sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance.” (Salinger 115).…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In general, when people have something to hide, they will say and do anything in order to cover for what they are hiding. In Holden’s life, he is covering up his inability to please society. This is first seen when he is caught off guard in the presence of a student at Pencey Prep’s mother, where he says, “Well, he is a very sensitive boy. He’s never really been a terribly good mixer with the other boys” (55). What this goes to show is how Holden actually talks about himself through his lies.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Then Holden goes ice skating at Central Park and to the theatre with an old friend, Jane Gallagher, whom Holden has had a crush on ever since he was…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The battle between moving on from his childhood but being caught in the middle of transitioning into adulthood, is what shapes the novel as Holden perseveres through every judgement and struggle that comes in his way. Holden then focuses on the important things in his life. For example, his sister Phoebe, and being the catcher in the rye for children so that they may be protected from the world. As Holden told his story, Salinger protrayed a troubled adolescent child in a way that everyone can learn from. In the end, Holden just wanted to protect other children from harm, from the world, and from a treacherous path in life.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As a result, Holden had left Pencey Prep to start his new life and go to New York. The new life was portrayed as a self-reflecting journey, which he was going to see what goals he wanted to accomplish, to find out who he was actually is, and to figure out why he is feel sentimental always. Through series of events, Holden had made mistakes, which he regretted. His first mistake was that he was a pathological liar to a student 's mother, Ernest’s mother, but hates her son, Ernest, who attends Pencey Prep. Holden had hated him because Ernest had a persona and vibe that all rich kids have shown.…

    • 2051 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a 1951 novel written by J.D. Salinger. Set in the 1940’s, it is told from the point of view of a troubled teen, Holden Caulfield. It looks at his emotions and view of the world which show the reader his distressed nature. This novel focuses on the alienation of the main character, madness and mental illness, mortality and lies and Deceit. Despite Holden’s constant interaction with others throughout ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ it still seemed to me that, whether intentional or not, he was bringing his isolation upon himself.…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Along his way home he is affected by an internal conflict within his own mind. He has a very depressing spirit and judgemental mentality that seems to be caused by the death of his brother, Allie. Throughout the couple of days living by himself, he endures a life of what seems like adulthood where he realizes he no longer is a kid and has lost all innocence. He visits bars underaged, he offers to pay a prostitute that came to his hotel room, but he couldn’t go through with his plan. Holden realizes his trouble to create relationships with others as he encounters many different people throughout New York City. He also struggles to find places to stay throughout his journey and eventually goes to an old english teacher to stay the night, but eventually is freaked out by his teacher stroking his forehead in his sleep and leaves during the night.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, is generally discerned as the story of a sixteen year old boy, known as Holden Caulfield, who struggles to find peace after his brother’s death. Holden wanders aimlessly around New York in the winter for two days and attempts to save children from falling into adulthood and becoming what he calls, phonies. He, generally, will settle until genuine feelings are shown, which leads to his running away. Salinger captures the significance of Holden’s late teenage experience through various symbols. One of these symbols is the catcher in the rye, which references the title and what Holden truly wants to be.…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holden says “I nearly dropped dead when [Stradlatter] said that… Boy, was I excited, I really was” (31). Holden has been caught up on Jane forever for many reasons, but a majority is his lack of growing up. It’s every child’s dream, to marry their childhood crush, and because of this subconscious desire, Holden is incapable of moving on to others. Holden is so lonely and desperate to find company and companionship that he tries to befriend every person he meets, including the cab driver, ugly girls from a bar, Luce, random children at the park, but his attempt at a relationship with a prostitute is the most revealing. When the prostitute arrives at Holden’s hotel room, he starts feeling “so damn peculiar” and asked the prostitute “don’t you feel like talking for a while” and he even recognized that “it was a childish thing to say” (95).…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger tells a story about a troubled teenager named, Holden Caulfield, who struggles with the fact that everyone has to change and grow up. Holden Caulfield has changed his perspectives in a few areas throughout the novel. He struggles with change, growing up, and expressing his feelings to other people. From the beginning of the novel, Holden isolates himself from society by ignoring helpful advice and holding on to his desire that everything in the world must remain unchanged. In the second chapter of the novel, Holden intentionally ignores Mr. Spencer’s advice, “life is a game, boy.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger revolves around a teenage boy named Holden, who goes on a trip home after he gets expelled from school only to realize what is truly important to him. In the book How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster explains in detail how every work of literature is similar and that they all mean something. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden goes on a quest to realize that his family is important to him, and it shows the events that happen in your life can affect the choices you make, and it can open your eyes. In How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster uses the chapter “Every trip is a quest (Except when its not) to explain the real reasons for it.…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    This exhibits the interest Holden has for sexual interactions with other girls, and his remembrance of past relationships he had. His encounters which other people engaging in sexual activities provoke his sexual desires that lead to depression and misery. Another time where Holden deals with a perverted and awkward moment is when he is at visiting Mr. Antolini, who was his teacher at Elkton Hills. Holden admires him due to his heart for others and being an easy going guy, as well as being able to give advice for academics and his future. After talking with him about Pencey and his future, Holden goes to sleep and surprisingly wakes up to Mr. Antolini sitting next to him and stroking his head.…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    He is excluded from and a stranger to the culture around him because he suffers from loneliness and depression. For example, the novel begins with Holden standing on top of Thomson Hill overlooking a Pency Prep football game. From the very beginning of the novel, it seems that Holden is not similar to the other students at Pency Prep. “I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomson Hill, right next to this crazy cannon that was in the Revolutionary War and all. You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place,” Holden considers quietly (Salinger 5).…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    However Jerome David Salinger had many more books than just The Catcher in the Rye. His collection of books he got published also consists of short stories that were printed in some well known magazines, including the The Saturday Evening…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Session 2 Review The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, was an amazing book that forced me to open my eyes to what the mid 20th century was like. It is about the main character Holden, who flunked out of school, going around New York and doing foolish things. It forces him to contemplate what he wants to do with his life and who he wants to be. This question is something that everyone around that age has to decide for themselves, and this book taught me more about that choice.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays