A Book Review on The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Holden has very noble goals, he wants to protect children’s innocence. He says to his little sister “‘Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I’m standing on the edge of

Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.

Why does Holden continuously judge people based on their physical appearance? Could this be a projection of his insecurities or a reflection of his mental health?

Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a

The exciting novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger expresses the free will of choice. Salinger cleverly conveys how decisions can alter a person’s perspective of their peer. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a young teenager who has emotional instability and behavioral concerns. Holden acts immaturely extensively throughout the book. Holden invents a world where adulthood is the emblem of superficiality and “phoniness”, while he chooses to convey childhood as a world of innocence. Holden’s observation of himself being the catcher in the rye is highly symbolic. When Holden states he wants to walk off beyond the cliff and catch the

“I swear to God I’m a madman” (149) Holden Caulfield says, revealing the wicked nature of J.D Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. The book follows 16 year old Holden Caulfield in his days spent alone on the streets of New York City after getting kicked out of prep school. During this time Holden goes on an alcoholic rampage, fueled by hate and filled with anger towards anything he sees as phony. The book has been the cause of major controversy since its release, with schools across the country banning it from the realms of teaching for decades. Now, it is read in many high school literature classes because of its alleged similarity to the way teenagers think. The Catcher in the Rye should not be taught to young, impressionable teenagers in public schools because of its rampant profanity, glorification of alcohol and tobacco use, and narration by a mentally ill, generally horrible person.

Holden has become. He snuck into his house to visit her and she told him “You

7. Holden remembers the time Jane cried and he kissed her. Why does he think she was crying? What do you think? Because of her stepdad

In the book, Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield, the main character is a negatively charged person, doesn't want himself or others around him to grow up, and suffers from depression because of his brothers death. This is obviously Holden's way of alienating the entire world and delaying the consequences of facing reality. Alienation is a big theme in Catcher In The Rye, and something that Holden depends on most often.

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a novel published in 1951 that describes the struggle of the main character, Holden who is a teenage boy that is alienated from everyone around him and struggles to build connections with anyone that he meets. Readers can identify Holden as a lonely and complicated character, and are able to feel the pain that he is going through. Holden Caufiled represents an alienated adolescence who is unable to move on from a painful past and struggles to accept the reality of adulthood. Holden’s red hunting hat is a symbol of his alination that directly represents his attachment to both his past and his childhood.

Holden’s story takes place in the 1950s. Because of this, it is necessary that the reader reads the story from multiple points of views. As Foster puts it, “don’t read with your eyes” (Foster 228) meaning that it is sometimes necessary to read from a perspective that will let you relate to and sympathize with the characters. The time period is shown many times such as when Holden goes dancing and asks a girl if she feels like “jitterbugging a little bit” (Salinger 72) referencing an iconic dance from that era. What people said and how they said it were very different in the past, and it is important to keep that in mind while reading.

J.D. Salinger, in his novel The Catcher in the Rye, centers around the life of Holden Caulfield past experiences that contributes to his personality; these obstacles makes him afraid to grow up and become an adult. Salinger details major events such as facing exile in his school because of failing classes, coping with death and trust, and being able to connect with people. These events that occur in his life, illuminates a the meaning of the book as a whole--young character’s growth into maturity and dealing with alienation. In the beginning of the book we introduced with Holden “standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill,” watching a game between Saxon Hill and his school, Pencey Prep.

Holden persists in questioning people about the ducks. The duck are reflective of Holden's fear of the unknown. Of what happens after we stop "being." He needs to be reassured that things are going to be okay. Holden goes on bad dates, meets up with a prostitute, and frequents nightclubs all in his search for love and companionship. Eventually he sneaks into his house to pay a visit to his sister. They talk for a while and Phoebe figures out that Holden has been thrown out of school again. "'You did get kicked out! You did!' old Phoebe said."(pg.169) "You don't like anything that's happened,"(pg.169) says Phoebe. "Yes I do, sure I do. Don't say that. Why the hell do

     Holden Caulfield is a teenager growing up in New York in the 1950s. He has been expelled from