Catcher

The Catcher in the Rye contains underage smoking, drinking, sexual references, and a negative perception of people and their actions, but it should stay in high school curriculum in order for students to analyze the deeper meanings behind his thought and behaviors, to analyze the author’s unique writing style, and to be exposed to the realities of depression. One may perceive Holden; the protagonist, constant smoking, drinking, and sexual tendencies as a suggestion of approval towards underage…

has to figure out plans for the rest of their life whilst balancing all the crazy mishaps life has to offer. It is a troubling, yet rewarding period of time, and in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield experiences all of this within a span of five days. “The Catcher in the Rye” is quite simply the epitome of a bildungsroman, or a coming of age novel. It is the story of a teenage boy grieving over the death of his younger brother and coming to…

1. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, July 1951, late 1940’s early 1950’s. 2. Holden Caulfield (Main Character/Narrator): Protagonist, manager of the fencing team, kicked out of school (after Christmas break), heavy smoker, has t.b., attended 4 schools, has a large crush on Jane Gallagher Stradlater: Holden’s roommate, vain, and playboy Phoebe Caulfield: Ten-year-old sister, smart, affectionate Mr. Antolini: Only trusted adult in Holden’s life, wealthy, and acts inappropriately toward Holden…

Innocence In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses the title of the novel to show the innocence of children and Holden’s need to preserve it. The author does this by showing us a song which relates to the title. It is brought up first when a child is singing on the edge of a busy street which, shows the innocence of the child. When Holden becomes aware of the child it makes him happier. When it is first spoken of with Phoebe he thinks of him saving kids from falling off of a rye…

childhood, which is to him the opposite of “phoniness”. In J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden learns to accept the loss of innocence in him and in the children in his life by developing and growing in the phony world of adults. Throughout the novel, Holden always detects phoniness in the adults in his life but never in the children in his life. In chapter…

people. For some, change is a transformation in a positive direction whilst for others it invokes some kind of loss or misery. Based upon an individual’s perspective, he or she will either be accepting or unaccepting of change. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye addresses loss as a change that should never be accepted due to the pain it entails. This is evident through Holden and his journey through New York City, where he displays his unwillingness to move past the death of his brother.…

J. D. Salinger’s continuous references to falling symbolize a more corrupt fall Holden fears ― adulthood. Throughout the story, Holden tries to prevent this ruinous incline, but ultimately he cannot avoid it forever. He seems to stumble right before events that introduce him to the adult world. For example, before leaving Pencey Prep, Holden “damn near [falls] on [his] head” (Salinger 46) in Ackley’s room, and as he answers the door for Sunny, he “[falls] over [his suitcase]” (93). Leaving a…

Throughout the novel, Salinger outlines the process of maturing from adolescence. Aside from the main character, Holden, who exhibits an aversion to change and development, the majority of children in this novel display a healthy maturing process. “Catcher in the Rye,” the title of the novel, holds a great amount of significance as to what Salinger believes the process of growing up entails. The poem from which the novel receives its name, “Comin thro’ the rye,” features a girl laboriously…

Catcher in the Rye Theme Analysis The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger follows Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy who was just flunked out of Pencey Prep, around New York City. The reader learns about his deep hatred for adults because they are all phonies and his love of kids because they remind him of innocence and make him “less depressed”. Throughout the book, Holden is secluded and desperate for some kind of connection, and can only seem to connect with little kids. Salinger uses…

many themes in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. The character that explores this theme is the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who fights to protect those he believes to be innocent. As an adolescent himself, he periodically tries conformity, but hates the phoniness he feels pressured to affect. Holden’s struggle between protecting childhood innocence and accepting the adult society that shatters it is a principal source of conflict throughout The Catcher in the Rye; this particular…