River Rye

Magical realism is defined as the result of the invasion of something “too strange to believe” in a realistic setting. It’s associated with Latin America and incorporates mythical elements in realistic works. Haruki Murakami is well known for his use of magical realism on several of his works. Murakami’s works go back to the 1970s, when consumerism invaded Japan. Murakami believed that the Japanese were “losing the ability to know and understand themselves” (Strecher 266). Through his works, he…

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…

stomach while she takes another $5. The next morning, Holden makes a date with the girl he knows named Sally Hayes. He then wanders around town, and here's a boy singing a song while coming out of church: “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” Hoping to find his younger sister, Phoebe, Holden walks all the way to the Museum of Natural History, which he loves for its unchanging…

The Cather in the Rye really sucked me in and got me thinking about a lot. The book is about teenager Holden Caulfield and his experiences growing up and maturing in New York before he decides to go home. Initially the book started out kind of slow but quickly picked up and I had a hard time putting it down. The Catcher in the Rye quickly caught my attention and dragged me in. In the second chapter of the book while Holden is talking to his history teacher Mr. Spencer about how life is just a…

J. D. Salinger is an American writer who was popular for writing short stories. Common themes of his writing was alienation and disenchantment. Reasons for that might be because he was drafted to World War 2 and served from 1942 to 1944. In J. D. Salinger’s short story “For Esme- with Love and Squalor,” he uses differences of views, war, and friendship to portray that the innocence of Esme acted as a healing power for Sergeant X while he was at war. In the beginning of J.D. Salinger’s “For…

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a fiction novel written by both John Green and David Levithan in 2010. The writing for the book was split evenly between the two authors, with Levithan writing the even numbered chapters and Green writing the odd numbered chapters. Before writing the book, the two authors agreed that the two characters would eventually meet. The story is written in two different perspectives, Will Grayson and will grayson. In order to distinguish between the two characters, Green…

Lucy Sondheim Ms. Spragens English 2 HP 12 October, 2015 Innocence, Death and Communication Growing up is strenuous and similar to Holden, people often have the desire to stay youthful eternally. Getting older can change someone from being pure to sinful. Holden repeatedly expresses that he yearns for people to preserve their innocence. He stated, “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.” (pg…

The story covers the three-days in the life of Holden Caulfield; specifically the ones he feels had to do, led to and explain his psychological condition. It begins that he has just failed his way out of Pencey, and he must go home to face his parents. But before he leaves Pencey, Ackley, the “phony” and “pimply” boy who occupies the next room, comes over to bother him. Stradlater, Holden’s roommate, then comes into the scene as well to “freshen up for a date.” Although Stradlater is handsome he…

In the first 26 pages of The Catcher in the Rye, the author characterizes Holden with many traits. One trait that was mostly prevalent was Holden's hypocritical tendencies. As a narrator, he exclaims how others are "Phony", yet he often shows throughout the first few chapters how much of a phony he is himself. There are many instances where he, as a narrator, accuses others of being bogus, yet the way his characters actions contradict his own beliefs that he tells the reader, prove that he is…

Mr. Antolini: A Catalyst for Change The poet Robert Frost once wrote “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference”. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the troubled protagonist, Holden, shares this drive to be unique. Holden does not want to go along with popular opinion. He wants to be different and state his opinions however he has a hard time balancing sharing his opinions with respecting society. The constant hypocrisy…