J. L. Mackie

Salinger’s time period affected The Catcher in the Rye by showing what it was like to be a teenager, albeit a rich, privileged one, soon after World War II (the book was published in 1951 and probably took place a couple years before) and right as the world was drastically changing from the advances and the alliances made during that time period. This, while not shown overtly throughout the text, is evidenced by Holden’s mentioning the atomic bomb and his older brother’s, D.B., time in the army…

The fiction novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger depicts a lonely teenager that struggles with growing up and entering the adult world. The author gives the lonesome boy two different advices through the separate conversations he has with his former English and History teachers. Holden, the main character, had a different way of responding for each advice given by his teachers. At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Spencer explains to Holden that "life is a game" (Salinger, 8). A game…

Throughout the novel, J.D. Salinger shows us that Holden fears growing up and has a mental breakdown as he transitions to adulthood. He doesn’t want other children to experience the "phoniness" of the world and become corrupted by society. While he was talking with Phoebe, Holden says that he wants to be a catcher in the rye, to save the children from falling off the cliff. What Holden means by ‘Being a catcher in the rye’ is that he wants to protect children’s innocence from entering the world…

Have you ever got advice, but not listened to the advice you received. In Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger a novel about a kid who flunks out of five schools and does not want to face the hardship of being an adult is finding it hard to comply with his thinking. In Rudyard Kipling poem if it shows .many life changing stanza that have significant meaning. While Holden faces difficulties in dealing with becoming an adult, judging on first sight, and not being truthful. Growing up and becoming an…

2. In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in a bar after wandering around in the city for a while. He glimpses three women and attempts to give them a seductive and "cool glance," though it only makes them "giggl[e] like morons." By using Holden's typical colloquial and vulgar way of speaking and making the women giggle at his underwhelming attempt at being sexy, Salinger highlights Holden's youth and inexperience. Instead of speaking eloquently and politely, Holden simply says what is…

Topic: “How Salinger uses Holden’s red hunting hat as a means of disassociating Holden from adulthood, a reminder to Holden of his deceased brother, Allie, and as a symbol of safety in times of vulnerability.” 1. Detail: “I bought [this red hunting hat] in New York that morning… I saw it in the window of this sports store… just after I noticed I’d lost all the goddamn foils.” (p 17) Effect: This is the first time the reader is introduced to Holden’s beloved red hat. He purchases it just…

On April 22, 1904, the cries of a newborn J. Robert Oppenheimer were heard. He was born into a wealthy New York family. His father, Julius Oppenheimer was an immigrant from Germany in his family’s textile importing business while his mother; Ella Friedman was a painter in New York where her ancestry had been there for generations. Later on, he would receive a little brother named Frank, who would be also be a future physicist. At a young age, he was a sheltered child who was instilled morals,…

In J.D. Salinger’s best selling novel, Catcher in The Rye, he utilizes equivocation alongside despair to block out true progress. For example, Holden Caulfield, the main character of the book, uses ambiguous language to hide his current health state. He struggles with making progress, yet at the same time reverting said progress. The issues he face are not because of the trauma he has lived through, but rather how he deals with it. Because Salinger incorporates equivocation and despair in…

The Catcher in The Rye The picture I decided to create us entitled “Loss” and it is all inside of Holden’s head. Holden believes that innocence is lost in growing up, that is why this image is called “Loss”. From left to right darkness slowly takes over the drawing. The light side is centered with the Museum of Natural History. In the top quote, Holden tells the reader that the museum never changes. He finds comfort in the idea of this. Holden also wishes that life worked like this, he…

If one word were to sum up the existence of Salinger's iconic character, Holden Claufeild from The Catcher in the Rye it would be loss. Holden experiences one loss after another, from the loss of his younger brother Allie, and therefore the his childhood innocence, to the loss of a positive perspective on the world and an ability to believe in those around him. If one message were to be taken from the tragic and sometimes stagnant, exploits of Holden it would be that growing up and the loss of…